


Ten Submerge

by Phosphorite



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dystopia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-02-22 21:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2522894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phosphorite/pseuds/Phosphorite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>When we were kids</i> was something Makoto often said, as if to remind Haruka that things had not always been this way. But it was a life that would not return, fifteen years later, in a world submerged with water.</p><p>[dystopian Tokyo AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story wasn't meant to happen.
> 
> And then it did.

 

The muffled shriek of a seagull pierced through the surface a moment before his fingers did, and the sound caught his ear like a shattering cry. Grasping onto the ledge, he allowed the rough surface of the concrete help pull him upwards, water splaying on the pavement where his bare feet touched the ground. 

Somewhere to his left, afternoon sun trickled across the corridor, bouncing off empty frames and pillars of chrome. The pavement beneath his feet still felt warm against his skin, allowing him to savor the remnants of warmth for as long as he could.

The cries of the seagull died down in the distance the further he treaded up the staircase, knowing to skid past the crumbling stone in places where others had tripped before. It only took him two floors to reach a space more securely enclosed than the ones below; he had hardly made a sound on his way up, but as soon as he touched the handle of the metal door at the entrance, he could sense something moving inside.

“Ah, Haru? Welcome back.”

“Nagisa must have been hallucinating,” Haruka’s response came with a shrug of his light backpack, unfastened and toppling over to Makoto’s feet where he leaned crouched over a tiny portable stove. “There were no dolphins at Udagawachou.”

“Maybe they were porpoises,” Makoto shrugged, never taking his eyes off the tiny flame he had obviously been tending to before Haruka entered, “Also, you shouldn't go out with such little gear. You don’t know what you might run into.”

“Not dolphins, that’s for sure.”

“You know what I meant.” A tiny smile lit up on Makoto’s lips as the flame finally turned from blue to yellow and held still for longer than two flickering seconds. “The whole reason we left Yoyogi was that we’d stay out of the turf war’s way. But even if Nagisa might have hallucinated your dolphins, I do trust Rei’s sightings of trouble farther down South.”

“I thought they were moving North,” Haruka said, crouching down next to Makoto. “Hold on, I’ll make dinner.”

“I thought so too,” Makoto brushed up to his feet. Haruka’s nimble fingers worked their way around four portions of canned fish with depressing familiarity, and Makoto couldn’t help letting out a sigh. “And it’s true most of the news have been coming from further up the Ikebukuro area, but we’ve got to start being more cautious. We’re already running into less rations than before.”

“It’s not like we _have_ to scavenge,” Haruka muttered, anticipating Makoto’s stare on his back in immediate response.

“Haru––“

Haruka hastily shook his head, cutting the conversation short. “I know,” he said, “I don’t want anything to happen to Ren and Ran either. I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

The sound of Makoto exhaling still sounded a lot like a sigh. It wasn’t as though there was no purpose for the expression he must have worn, one of  disbelief mixed with concern; the scar on Haruka’s left shoulder-blade had barely had time to heal. The possibility that one of these days he might attract someone to their current residence, draw enough attention to put the twins in jeopardy – well, the thought made Haruka as ashamed as it made him frustrated, knowing that at the end of the day the water-proof compass watch he had stolen a week ago was still probably worth the risk.

“…It’s going to get dark soon,” Makoto finally said, and Haruka heard his footsteps shuffling towards the direction of Ren and Ran’s voices, “You should dry up before the sun sets. I know it doesn’t get as chilly at nights as it did when we were kids, but you could still catch a cold.”

In the wake of his former trail of thoughts, Makoto’s words momentarily caught Haruka off guard.

 _As it did when we were kids_ was something Makoto often said, as if to remind Haruka that things had not always been this way. At sixteen, the twins knew not of a world different to the one they lived in today, yet on slow, quiet days when the sun shone on Haruka’s face at the highest point of the tower, he could still recall glimpses of a childhood far from here; a childhood of beach salt, of narrow streets and woods that stretched on forever.

All of that must have still existed, somewhere, beneath the masses of water that had submerged not only the island of Japan but all the neighbouring continents fifteen years ago. The higher the water had continued to rise, the more people had rushed to evacuate into the bigger cities and their buildings towering high atop ground. Yet with water had come currents, with currents came wildlife, and with wildlife and the unpredictable sea, a world where those unable to adapt succumbed to illness and nature – among them Makoto’s parents, who had taken Haruka in before the disaster initially struck.

It felt so long ago, now.

But it was a life that would not return, a life that felt more distant by the day. In the first couple of years, scientists had been similarly hopeful that the water would decline; however, all around the world reports of untouched land had slowly begun to diminish, until most network connections cut out and governments began to crumble with haste. Haruka knew Makoto sometimes still entertained the thought of all of this as temporary, yet deep down Haruka did not share his optimism: even if somewhere in the far ends of the world the water did begin to recede, their chances of ever reaching it from this run-down shopping mall tower in Shibuya were close to nil.

Watching the fish sizzle feebly on the worn-out pan, it was moments like this that Haruka couldn’t help his bitterness, soaring up from a place normally tempered by routine. He might have loved Makoto, Ren and Ran as the only family he had, but that did not mean he loved _this_ – year after year just biding his time, adapting to each day, trying to survive. For fifteen years, Makoto’s insistence on caution had been a basic necessity, but it also clashed with the part of Haruka that had long since ceased to view the water as an enemy; to think he might always live his life having to run away from it, well, it made him grip the pan with enough aggravation to almost send the fish flying.

Still.

What other choice did he have?

 

 

 

Hallucinations or not, Nagisa’s vivid descriptions of the supposed dolphins he had witnessed were enough to send Haruka back to Udagawachou on the following day. Something about the possibility of personally catching even a glimpse of them kept tugging at Haruka’s mind throughout the night; he had seen dolphins once more, before they relocated to Shibuya, and the memory still held him captivated to an image of unbound spirit. 

It wasn’t dolphins he found, though.

Or would it be more accurate to say it wasn’t dolphins who found _him_ ; because less than ten minutes to his swim across the familiar intersection, Haruka could suddenly sense he was being followed.

It was–– intuitive, almost, as if another state of awareness had invaded the water around him, like a sudden jolt of electricity trickled past the surface and awakened him to its presence. He sometimes felt that, if a particularly large aquatic animal traversed by several feet below, but this was no animal. He couldn’t say exactly how he knew this, but then, his intuition had also never been wrong.

As if to test that presence, he picked the opposite direction from where he had come. Diving underwater, from each shift and turn he could feel his pursuer drawing closer. The thought did not so much unnerve rather than fascinate him, in a way; it was hardly the first time he had been chased, but nobody had never managed to keep up with him like this before.

There was curiosity behind this realization, one that made him stall for a heartbeat; whether it was worth the risk to identify the person behind such persistency, that heartbeat was also enough for them to catch up. Haruka could feel it, too, in the ripples of the water that shot past him; then the sound of splashing water, where something broke the surface to his right.

“Haah, Takuya was right. You _are_ fast.”

Instinctively, Haruka grabbed onto the first available window ledge, craning his head towards the voice. Across what had once been a street, a young man had hoisted himself atop one of the crumbled billboard signs, rubbing the back of his neck as if stretching out; when he tilted his head, the wet strands of hair pushed back by a pair of goggles glistened red in the sunlight.

It was a red that matched the embellishments of the black wetsuit he wore, Haruka noted at once, and couldn’t help his eyes narrowing with abrupt caution.

“…You’re one of them.”

It wasn’t a question, because he had no need for one. As much distance as Makoto had tried to put between them and the turf wars, anyone would have recognized Samezuka colours when he saw them; Haruka more so, for reasons he was not naïve enough to think were coincidental to this chance meeting.

Even from afar, he could tell the man’s mouth twisted with a wry smile. “What, you’re just gonna skip out on the part where we become unexpected best friends until you discover I’m actually part of a notorious gang? What a bore.”

“What do you want?” Haruka replied bluntly, never once taking his eyes off the man. He didn’t look older than Haruka, but the fact that he had caught up with such ease gave their circumstances an air of unpredictability, one Haruka wasn’t used to; if he was being targeted, the odds of his escape might not be as self-evident as he had assumed.

“You don’t bother with nonsense, huh,” his pursuer groaned, then shook his head. “Fine, whatever. I’ll cut to the chase, then.”

Haruka could tell he was fighting back a strange momentum from his voice. “I want you to join my team.”

It wasn’t the response Haruka had anticipated; slightly taken aback, he countered with the only thing he ever knew how.

“I’m not interested.”

Something in the man’s expression twitched, and he cut the air with an arc of his hand. When he spoke, a genuine annoyance broke through in his voice. “The hell?! I didn’t even tell you what I meant yet!”

“I don’t care,” Haruka repeated, sensing an opening in the almost childlike aggravation that his refusal had roused; if he just managed to distract this guy long enough to catch him off guard, he could try and make a sprint for it long enough to lose him in the side streets of––

“What, so you _like_ being a vulture?”

Each muscle in Haruka’s body froze.

It was clear the words were spoken in contempt, one that paralleled Haruka’s own. Lifting his head, the man now held his gaze with triumphant authority – as much as Haruka hated to admit it, both of them knew he had definitely struck a nerve.

“I’m not,” Haruka spoke, using calmness to contain the spark of anger resounding in the water between them, “A vulture.”

Instead of a retort, the man addressed Haruka’s defiance with an aloof nod. “Nice watch you got there,” he spoke dryly, and on reflex, Haruka brought up his other hand to touch the compass watch on his right wrist.

The heat of an almost ashamed, helpless frustration slithered up Haruka’s neck as the man went on, pushing up to his feet on the broken billboard.

“I’ll be honest here, I don’t get you,” he spoke, eyes fixed at his feet to retain balance; it would have been the perfect moment for retreat, but Haruka couldn’t help feeling pinned down by his every word. “No regular scavenger or thief would have any real need for the watch you stole from Takuya, which makes me think you’re actually more ambitious than that – yet you also say you’re not interested in joining my team. So what _are_ you interested in?”

Haruka opened his mouth, and absolutely no words came.

What came, though, was a sudden irritation as a defensive embarrassment washed over him; he had literally met this guy less than fifteen minutes ago, yet he was already chafing on each and every one of Haruka’s nerves.

“What I do is none of your business. If your teammates don’t want their property repossessed, maybe they should learn how to swim faster.”

The man let out a little laugh. “You’re fast, I’ll give you that,” he said, stretching out his arms, “But you’re also awfully confident for a guy using completely outdated gear.”

Haruka eyed at him sharply. Sure enough, most of his equipment was probably a couple decades old, but it was all he had managed to find lying around over the years. Rumour had it that the gangs had access to newer technology, some even developed after the crisis; whether this was true or not, Haruka couldn’t see how that made much of a difference. “Gear is gear. It doesn’t change the way you swim.”

“What year are you living in? 2014?” The man let out a dramatic sigh and pulled at the goggles fastened around his forehead until the band snapped. When he glanced back at Haruka, his expression softened a little. “Tell you what. I’ll let you borrow these for a day. Afterwards, you can try and tell me the way you swim is the same.”

Without bothering to wait for Haruka’s response, he pulled the goggles off and swung them across the air until they landed on the water a couple of feet away. Floating on the surface, Haruka stared at the pair suspiciously, before intuitively closing his hand around them all the same.

“How do I know you’re not just going to ambush me?”

“Moron,” the man groaned with nearly familiar ease, “If I wanted you dead, you’d be talking to my sister, not me.” He folded his arms, nodding away at Haruka. “I told you, you’re fast – and we could use someone like that on the team.”

“And I told you I’m not interested,” Haruka repeated, but was met with an unexpectedly wide grin, revealing a row of sharp teeth; there was an unexpected lightness to it, like a remnant of youth and sincere excitement that the man could not entirely conceal.

“Just meet me here tomorrow,” he said, beckoning at the billboard and the silence of the gently swaying water; Haruka frowned at him, still wrapped up in his habitual doubt.

“And what happens if I do?”

“Then I’ll show you a sight you’ve damn well never seen before,” came the response, tinted with something akin to laughter; before Haruka could catch his voice again, the man had already leaped off the board and disappeared underwater.

As the vibrations in the water calmed down, Haruka soon realized he was alone again. For a while, he could only cling to the same window ledge he had held onto for the past twenty minutes; a pair of sleek swimming goggles in one hand and a funny lightness in his chest were the only reminder that the bizarre scene had ever taken place at all.

 _God_ , he finally thought with a long, inward sigh before turning to swim back home.

_What a dork._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I mentioned that I might not really venture into AUs again much, and I had no specific intention to since most of my AU ideas work on the level of ideas rather than fleshed-out fic. But then I went back to Tokyo and ran into a very specific sign in Ikebukuro Animate, of a stick figure (of what I assume is a Free! parody to begin with?) diving into water from a set of stairs, and I could not get it out of my head; I could see this story played out in my head, both in terms of visuals and plot, and I started writing it on the plane back home. I'm going to try and tackle it from a more straight-forward narrative this time, to keep it from blowing up and disrupting my other projects too much, but I'm happy if anyone enjoys it as much as I enjoy writing it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> You know, I was going to preface this by something I forgot to mention in the prologue; basically to apologize in advance for all the potential logical fallacies, scientific inaccuracies, and general stylistic errors I might be committing with this little fic. But then I realized that I'm _not_ sorry - because I have zero intention for this story to turn out like the ones I have written before, with chapters I've spent days editing, mulling over flow and form. No, this is going to be one of those shamelessly self-indulgent things where I'm going to _just have fun instead_ ; I know it might not be to everyone's tastes, and some might even question the point of posting such rough work in public altogether, but let's not be silly - I don't think anyone's going to die over me trying out something less disciplined for a change.
> 
> Which is why I'm here again, a day later. Just having fun.
> 
> I hope that fun is enough for some of you guys to enjoy it with me.

 

It was supposed to be the perfect plan.

Not a single soul followed him on the way back to Shinjuku, around the remnants of what once was a lively train station. He usually made the detour, just to throw any wandering observers off course; they’d wade into the direction of Sanchome, unaware that the true Samezuka headquarters stood somewhere far closer.

_Far deeper_ , he liked to remark, as the dim light beckoned him in the depths of a sunken old shopping centre. Captain had discovered the airlock completely on accident, but ten months and heavy fortification had helped establish their team as one of the most dangerous organizations in central Tokyo. This method of disappearing and emerging without warning had quickly attracted the disdainful nickname of 'sharks', something Captain was so amused by that he ended up tagging it onto their name. 

Most of the sharks weren’t supposed to be here today, though. No, half of them had been ordered out for surveying purposes, creating the perfect opportunity to sneak back in unannounced. Only the hollow echo of pressure followed him back through the narrow side streets and into the airlock, but once the heavy door thudded shut, it once more occurred to him that life is rarely as perfect as an intricately woven plan.

“Hey, Rin. Welcome back.”

Rin couldn’t help flinching as Sousuke’s voice bounced off the concrete, an air of sarcasm in his words. For a passing fancy Rin entertained the thought of the walls caving in and washing them both away, if just to save them from the impending conversation.

“Shit, you almost gave me a stroke,” he grimaced. Proceeding to pull down on the short sleeves of his wetsuit, the attempt to wriggle off the top part came out like a dance. “I thought you were gonna stay with Gou today.”

“Nah, the Captain let her go solo,” Sousuke brushed up to his feet. “I figured I’d stay behind, you know, to make sure you caught your thief.”

Once more, Rin winced. He’d made Momo swear not to tell anyone – shit, he wouldn’t have told Momo either, if he hadn’t also needed the intel to find the thief in the first place. The kid was a terrible blabbermouth, but he was also one of the best trackers they had.

“Yeah, sure,” Rin shrugged, fishing for an aloof tone, “It was just some runt, maybe ten years old. I felt sorry for him, so I let both him and the watch go.”

Sousuke shot him a pensive look, arms folding across his chest. “And then you felt so sorry for him that you gave away your goggles too, huh.”

_Shit_.

Gritting his teeth together, Rin swore under his breath. How the hell was Sousuke so good at this, anyway? No, that was a hypothetical question – they’d been inseparable for almost twenty years, so the fact that Sousuke could see through his every twitch was probably Rin’s own fault.

“Okay, _fine_ ,” he groaned, understanding the futility of trying to lie, “Takuya was right, okay? This guy, he’s–– he wasn’t an ordinary thief. He’s _fast_. And I need to keep the other guys off his trail before I figure out what to do about him.”

“...He was good, huh?” Sousuke replied unable to hide his piqued interest, and Rin felt his mouth stretching into a grin.

“Better. And get this–– all of his stuff is ancient. No tech, no enhancements. And it still took me a real effort to catch up!”

“A guy like that would have been snapped by one of the teams by now,” Sousuke mused dryly, but even his familiar suspicion was not enough to temper the resurgence of Rin’s excitement.

“I know, I thought so too,” he said, shaking his head, “But he’s a legitimate scavenger. Only, I don’t think he wants to be.”

Sousuke scrunched up his brow. “What, so you want to _recruit_ him?”

“No–– I mean yeah–– I mean––“ Rin held his tongue, pausing for a moment. “Look, I can’t explain it, but I _felt_ something. In the water. Like a thirst for–– something. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’m going to find out.”

“That’s a lot of effort just for a recruit,” Sousuke yawned, beckoning at Rin to follow up the stairs leading to their quarters, “You sure you’re ready to report on all that to the Captain?”

Rin’s hand shot out, grabbing Sousuke’s arm before he reached the next step. “That’s why I need you to lie for me.”

This time, Sousuke’s brow deepened into a proper frown. “ _What_?”

“I need you to vouch for me, and tell Captain what I first told you,” Rin repeated, drawing in a deep breath, “I just… I need more time, okay? I’m going back out there tomorrow, but you have to keep quiet about it for now.”

Sousuke’s eyes narrowed, and for a few seconds Rin held his breath. The best and worst thing about Sousuke had always been his refusal to take Rin at face value; over the years, they had butted heads more times than he could dream to keep count, but it was also exactly why Rin so desperately needed Sousuke on his side.

The last thing Sousuke ever agreed to was blind loyalty, so when he finally sighed and muttered _fine, whatever_ , the weight of Rin’s relief made his smile warp into another grin.

“You’re the best, you know that?” Rin laughed, racing past Sousuke in the stairway; the lightness in his heart suddenly made him feel like a kid again, as if they were dashing down the road to the ice cream vendor as opposed to masses of water holding the building down at all sides.

“I just hope you know what you’re doing,” Sousuke called out after him.

As usual, the traces of his concern were lost in the waves of Rin’s enthusiasm bouncing off the walls.

 

 

 

“So you came.”

The sharp glare Rin earned in response was enough to suggest that his nonchalance had hit the mark. In reality, it had taken Rin a herculean effort to keep his nerves down in the ten minutes he had sat on that familiar billboard, waiting for the peculiar man from yesterday to show up. Right up until the moment that head of dark hair had broken the surface, it had been impossible to say whether he ever truly would. 

“I’m only here to return these,” the guy spoke, head barely above surface as he reached out one hand to hold out Rin’s goggles. The sight was comical, given the distance between them; if he expected Rin to play fetch, he was sorely mistaken.

“I’m not gonna stab you in the face, damn,” Rin snapped, voice echoing in the water, “Get over yourself for a second and get up here.”

The guy appeared to hesitate, albeit briefly. Reaching across the water to the side of the building, he eventually pulled himself up on the remainder of a fire ladder before leaping atop the billboard with enviable grace. He was a lot thinner than most of the guys in Samezuka, Rin noted, but nothing about his physique screamed _weak_.

“You know,” Rin said, feeling a pair of cautious eyes pinning him down, “I have a two-date rule. It means I don’t meet someone twice without knowing their name.”

Those same eyes almost rolled over in their sockets. “You’re the one who invited me here.”

“And you’re the one who showed up,” Rin retorted, trying to keep his cool; he already knew talking to this guy was like an exercise in communicating with a wild animal, but sooner or later one of his lousy jabs had to make a crack.

“…It’s Haru.”

Perhaps sooner, then; Rin felt genuine surprise at the discreet glance shot his way, like the first concession of peace since yesterday.

The guy took another deep breath and continued, “…Haruka. That’s my name.”

“No last names, huh,” Rin breathed out, a sudden need to play off the scene with misplaced humour, “Looks like we’re well on our way to becoming unexpected best friends after all.”

If looks could hurt, Haruka’s stare was nothing short of a stubbed toe.

“Maybe I should have lent you a sense of humour instead,” Rin pulled a face, rubbing the back of his neck until his expression softened. “Ah, whatever. I’m Rin, okay? I’d say it’s a pretty girly name, but it seems like you’ve already got that covered.”

Something scrunched up on Haruka’s face, like a test of immense patience. Taking a deep breath, he reached out his hand once more. “Here are your goggles. Thank you for letting me borrow them.”

The words sounded stiff, but not without sincerity. As Rin glanced up, an unexpected hesitancy trailed Haruka’s expression, like part of him was reluctant to let the goggles go.

“You tried them, didn’t you.”

Haruka frowned, but did not dispute Rin’s claim. This tiny victory tickled at his fingertips, itching to draw deeper, but Rin willed his excitement down. “So? What did you think?”

“…I didn’t know the water could be that clear,” Haruka began, instinctively dodging Rin’s implication as if reluctant to admit he had been right, “Just by wearing a pair of goggles, I mean.”

“It’s the tech,” Rin grinned, letting his head tilt back, “It filters out all the gunk. They’re designed for diving, so you can reach ground level.”

Haruka’s frown twitched with disbelief. “It's not possible to reach ground level. You can’t hold your breath for that long.”

Rin’s grin stretched wider at the endearing naïvety of Haruka's words. “And that’s where you’re even more wrong, saying gear doesn’t matter,” he noted, craning his neck to the side so Haruka could gain a better view. “See this?”

“I see you have a neck,” Haruka replied. “Very good.”

“No, idiot, I mean––“ Rin snapped, tapping two fingers over the spot where three tiny marks had punctured the skin, “ _This_. You know what that is?”

“Vampire mermen.”

“Oh for fuck’ sake,” Rin couldn’t stifle a laughter entering his voice, “Just shut up and watch, okay?”

Reaching down to pull something out of a tiny pouch strapped on the side of his shin, Rin went on: “These little gadgets are something you won’t come across every day. Or ever, if you’re a basic scavenger – we’ve only got a handful of them at Samezuka, and my Captain would probably kick my ass if he found out I’d taken two.”

Holding out his hand, something small and square lay on Rin’s palm. When Haruka intuitively leaned in closer, Rin could tell he sensed the mild hum of energy, even before Rin switched either one of them on.

“I told you,” Rin spoke, unable to help the gentleness of his tone as he observed Haruka trying to piece the information together in his head, “If you came back, I’d show you something–– something you’ve never seen before.”

“…You mean, what there is underwater?”

There was no more defiance in Haruka’s words, but instead a hopefulness he could not conceal. Rin nodded, biting his lip to bite back his smile.

“What, did you think this was everything there is to our world?”

To accentuate the sentiment, he gave Haruka’s shoulder a playful shove. In the sudden jolt of electricity that passed between Rin’s fingers and Haruka’s bare shoulder, Haruka’s eyes shot up at once; abrupt panic made air hitch in Rin’s lungs, and he took a step backwards on reflex.

“Uh, I gotta warn you though,” Rin hastily went on, trying to act as if nothing had happened, “The first time isn’t so pleasant. Wearing one, I mean–– I think it paralyses part of your nervous system so you won’t inhale water, and filters oxygen where it punctures your skin, kinda like gills. Or something like that. Just, if you feel like you’re choking, that’s completely normal. It’ll pass once you’re in the water.”

“I’m not scared,” Haruka countered quickly. For someone whose regular state undulated between blank and stoic, Rin found it hard to tell whether his response was laced with enthusiasm or embarrassment.

“We’ll see about that,” Rin said, in an attempt to conjure up a dare; yet for all his bravado, it was just as hard to tell why a thrill far more personal nudged at him once Haruka cradled one of the ventilators in his hands with sincere wonder.

_I hope you know what you’re doing_ , he heard Sousuke once more echoing in his head. It was one Rin had laughed off a hundred times, at twelve when they had ambushed their first loft; at fifteen, when Gou asked him to be her practice target; at eighteen, when a man named Mikoshiba Seijuurou had tilted a head at Rin and said, _how would you feel about working for me?_

And truth was – he had always, _always_ known, because between Sousuke and Gou he had everything he needed in this messed up world, and nothing left to lose.

Or so he had thought.

“Rin.”

The sound of his name was like another jolt, but one Haruka conducted with the calmness of his eyes.

“I can’t do this if you won’t help me,” Haruka went on, and it took Rin a couple of seconds to realize he was still holding out his hand.

“Y, yeah,” Rin fought back a stammer, and picked the ventilator off Haruka’s palm; stepping back into his personal space, Rin tried not to focus too much on why the thought heightened his senses, that familiar tickle dancing on his fingertips where they grazed Haruka’s skin.

At the final moment, Rin stalled.

“It might feel a bit troublesome,” he said, “But I swear it’s still completely worth it.”

He nearly gave a start when Haruka’s hand snaked up to grab his wrist with impatience.

“We’ll see about that,” Haruka muttered.

In the brief pause that it took for the ventilator to connect with Haruka’s neck, Rin felt his hesitation dissolve like the breath Haruka drew in on instinct.

After all, it was supposed to be the perfect plan.

And then it got better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haru and Rin's POVs aren't the only ones we're getting - just sayin'.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three days, three chapters.
> 
> Let's see how long this lasts.
> 
> (my beta is busy tonight, so I'll try and catch any lingering typos if there are still some! sorry about that.)

In all honesty, Haruka had never really thought about the day he might die.

In a world filled with disaster, perhaps that was strange. From such an early age, every one of them had become accustomed to the possibility of death; from the illness that claimed Makoto's parents to the storms that sank most of the ships on their way to Tokyo, accepting nature's unpredictability was simply a prerequisite to staying sane. 

Still, when the tiny fangs of the ventilator snapped out and plunged through Haruka's skin, for a heartbeat he knew – that this was how it would feel like, the moment his physical body one day came to a halt.

On reflex, he gasped out for air, but Rin had been right. Something _was_ paralysing his lungs, refusing to push air down the windpipe, and in a matter of seconds his head felt light. Only the shock in his circulation battled the sudden lack of oxygen to his brain, as if Haruka could faint and suffocate all at once. 

Something firm grabbed his hand. Right before it pulled him off the ledge, Haruka realized it was Rin; in spite of himself, Haruka grasped his hand tighter as his body broke the surface of the water anew.

From that moment on, everything about the world changed.

The first breath was the strangest. It didn't feel unnatural, as the frenzy of his panic drove Haruka to inhale on reflex. It calmed him down almost immediately afterwards, though, once the ventilator infused oxygen into his veins.

_You should wear the goggles._

It wasn't Rin's voice, rather than a _feeling_ Haruka sensed when Rin's hand brushed at his wrist. He hadn't stopped to consider how the two of them might communicate underwater, but perhaps there was no need; a relieved smile dawned on Rin's lips as his red hair undulated hypnotically around his face, and Haruka knew it took no technology for him to wordlessly understand everything Rin meant.

_And now there's just the best part left._

He understood that, too, when Rin fastened an extra pair over his own eyes and tilted his head. As disdainful as Haruka felt about giving Rin any reason to assume he was in charge, he would not have dreamt of objecting once Rin pulled up his knees, somersaulted in the water and dove deeper.

Because it was also so very obvious that _this_ was a world Haruka had never witnessed before, yet one that Rin was familiar with like the back of his hand. Instead of pressure and consuming darkness, what awaited Haruka further below was a lightness he couldn't remember having felt in years. All around him, the ocean stretched on endlessly, but he wasn't simply treading it on the surface anymore – no, as Rin determinedly zoomed towards the direction of Harajuku, Haruka realized the ocean now welcomed them in.

_You shouldn't have to keep running from it. You should be able to face the water head on, and make it your own._

Haruka heard it, in the wry smile Rin tossed over his shoulder; a school of fish fluttered past his shoulder as though used to Rin's presence. Scales gleaming in the filtered light, Haruka couldn't help reaching out his fingers until they nearly grazed at one. The sudden vibration made Haruka flinch, and he could have sworn he felt Rin laugh.

Because the more he focused, the more Haruka could pinpoint wildlife he had never even seen before amidst the run-down, underwater streets: invertebrates scuttling along the seabed, strangely coloured flora clinging to cracks in the asphalt, fish of all shapes and sizes drifting through the windows of vehicle frames covered in coral. It briefly made Haruka curious about what he might find in the subway tunnels even further below ground, but Rin clearly had other plans.

Drifting along, their destination did not dawn on Haruka until he spotted a torii gate beneath them. The sight made something funny flip in his chest; he hadn't been to a shrine since the last New Year before the life as he knew it had come to an end.

_Look. Over there – right next to the shrine._

Rin's arm had stretched out to point at the yard, but Haruka should have been blind to miss it: before them spread a seabed of what looked like underwater glow worms, lighting up the depths with a phosphorous green.

Had the ventilator not supplied Haruka with oxygen, he easily could have forgotten how to breathe. Because in that moment a fraction of time came undone, and a part of Haruka was back in Iwatobi on the day after his 5th birthday, the arms of his mother around his shoulders and Makoto's laughter ringing in his ears.

Rin appeared startled when Haruka grabbed his arm, but there was no mistaking Haruka's intent.

 _I have to–– I need to go back up_. _Now._

When he broke the surface, the coughs that escaped Haruka's throat helped conceal the frantic beating of his heart. His fingers quickly found the mechanism that dislodged the ventilator, but even after he slumped to his knees on top of the nearest building, Haruka couldn't stop shaking.

He hadn't wanted to come back up.

He hadn't wanted to–– return to the surface, ever again, and it was exactly why he had had to.

"...Haru? Did something–– Are you okay?"

Rin's voice did not bother concealing the concern Haruka found mirrored in his gaze. Quickly, Haruka shook his head, then discovered he couldn't have responded even if he'd tried.

"Oh. Shit, yeah," Rin grunted once Haruka clutched at his neck in confusion, "I forgot to tell you. That–– that sometimes happens, if the ventilator paralyses your vocal cords on accident too. It won't last for long, though. Sorry."

Haruka shook his head again. It didn't matter; he had nothing he needed to say.

The willingness of his silence seemed to unnerve Rin, though. Scratching the back of his head, Rin's gaze trailed off into the direction of the horizon, where the sun was slowly beginning to set. Not until that sight did Haruka understand how long they had spent underwater, although the afternoon had felt to him like the blink of an eye.

"One of these days there'll be more than glow worms, you know."

As Haruka glanced up, there was an odd seriousness on Rin's face. Sensing Haruka's stare, Rin let out a little laugh and skipped closer until he finally sprawled down on the roof next to Haruka.

"I mean, I'm going to see everything there is," Rin spoke, stretching out his hands to encapsulate the sky, "Not just a sunken Tokyo."

Haruka just kept staring, so Rin went on. "My dad – he was a fisherman, before the Submerge. He was away a lot, but he always told me–– stories, of the places he'd been to. Like the coast of India, or tiny villages in China. One of the places he always wanted to go to was Australia."

A resolve entered his tone, and Rin nodded at himself. "Back when all of this began, I promised myself I'd get out of here one day. Go to Australia. See the world. 'Cause there has to be more than this – I just know it. And if climbing my way to the top of some stupid street gang is gonna help me get anywhere closer to finding out what it is, then that's what I'll do."

As if quickly regretting his sincerity, Rin grimaced with embarrassment and waved his hand. "It's a pretty stupid dream, I guess. But then, it's still mine, you know?"

Turning to Haruka, he lightly nudged their shoulders together in an attempt to laugh off the abrupt seriousness. "What about you, though? Is there anywhere you want to go?"

Once Haruka countered him with silence, Rin slapped his own forehead. "Shit. Yeah, you can't talk, can you. Okay, how about this..."

Scooching over, Rin shifted until his back faced Haruka. "Okay, imagine my back is the map of the globe. You should draw in the parts you wish you could see."

Haruka hesitated for a moment.

Still, his hand eventually landed on Rin's back. Even through the wetsuit, he could feel a firm curve of muscle, the shoulder blade flinching lightly where his fingertip started to draft the rough outline of the world.

And so what he drew, was Japan; then China, dipping down to India, and extending all the way to Europe; the curved edges of Africa, trickling across the Atlantic to Southern America, then up Rin's left shoulder blade until it finished the outline of Northern America.

When Haruka's hand came to a still after the shape of Australia near Rin's spine, he heard himself speak out with clarity.

"I want to see everything. I want to go everywhere, so one day I'll have nowhere left to go to but home."

"...Haru?" Rin breathed out as he slowly turned, something unreadable yet puzzled in his voice.

Haruka only cast his eyes aside; swallowing, he reached back up to his feet.

"...Thank you for today," he said, brushing off each and any implication of his former words before they could incriminate him for emotions he wasn't supposed to feel. "...I feel like I should repay you somehow, though."

"Shit, you really don't like owing anyone anything, do you?" Rin barked out, still a little puzzled, then shook his head. "It's fine, okay? Call it a scouting attempt."

"I never said I'd swim for you," Haruka replied stiffly, but Rin gave his defiance no time to take root; when he spoke, Rin's expression was excited and soft all at once.

"Then how about you consider swimming _with_ me?"

In the setting sun, Haruka suddenly felt as cut out of time as in the glow of the phosphorous light.

 

 

 

"Haru-chaaaaannn!! We've been waiting forever for you to get back, we're–– _oh_." 

Few things stilled Nagisa's tongue so quickly, but Samezuka colours must have been one of them. Granted, his silence was curious rather than startled, which made for a funny contrast to the panic that instantly washed over Rei's face.

Before his impending freak-out, Haruka cut the introductions short. "This is Rin. Where's Makoto?"

"Uh... above, making dinner, since you took so long to return," Rei responded cautiously, shuffling closer to the wall. It was strange to observe how normal people reacted to the mere reputation of what Rin represented; Nagisa, on the other hand, tilted his head with awe.

"So Haru-chan went to look for dolphins, but instead he found a shark!"

"Hilarious," Rin remarked dryly, before he followed Haruka up the stairs.

Inviting Rin back for dinner was possibly the most feeble attempt to return a favour, but one Haruka clung to with pride nonetheless. Of course, this relied on Makoto's acceptance as much as it demanded his hospitality, so when Makoto's eyes widened with surprise rather than rejection, Haruka let out a relieved sigh.

"Well then," Makoto said, perplexed but welcoming once they all gathered around the portable stove, "...It's very nice to meet you, Rin. I didn't expect us to get so much company today – Rei and Nagisa just kind of showed up, too, to showcase Rei's most recent invention."

"You make it sound like a gachapon prize," Rei complained, and let out a theatrical sigh. "While _some of us_ are out there fraternizing with hoodlums," he paused to ignore Rin rolling his eyes, "I've made terrific progress on my research. The battery Nagisa found had enough power to help me locate one of the abandoned satellites, which allowed me to route a fixed connection to my Revice."

"A what?" Rin was the first to ask, lifting an unimpressed brow at Rei's barely scientific sounding jargon.

"Super amazing incredibly spiffy Rei-device!" Nagisa chimed in, throwing his fist in the air, "A Revice!"

"Okay, so the name probably still needs some work," Rei coughed, adjusting the angle of his glasses, "But it's tracking software. I've got two prototypes done, one for myself and one for Nagisa-kun. If we ever get separated, we can just look each other up on the device."

"The Revice," Haruka repeated, and behind him both Ren and Ran sniggered.

"I think it sounds very useful," Makoto commented. "That must have taken you a lot of work."

Beaming, Rei chuckled into the palm of his hand. "With proper equipment, I could create almost anything," he boasted, and managed to sound almost believable until the twins started bombarding him with countless of new ideas for invention, ranging from jet packs to a time machine.

Haruka couldn't help smiling at the scene. Watching Rei wildly illustrate the logical impossibility of a teleporter with a spoon, listening to Nagisa egging the twins on while Makoto struggled to contain his laughter, sensing the warmth of Rin's shoulder next to Haruka's own – everything familiar and unfamiliar here re-instilled comfort and stability in his heart. But that very same heart skipped a tiny beat when he felt Rin tugging on his arm, gesturing to have a minute in private.

"Thanks for dinner. But I think I should scram now."

"Oh," Haruka heard himself say, unable to locate the origin of his sudden disappointment; to conceal this from Rin, he turned away his head. "Okay, then."

"So..." Rin began, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So," Haruka repeated, like a blunt object on the path of this conversation ever drawing to a close, and Rin sighed.

"Look. I'm not gonna try and change your mind anymore, okay?" he said, like a concession. "I can tell you're happy here, with these people. So you should stay with them if that's what you want."

_Is that what I want?_

It was a question Haruka's mind instantly raced at, but one he never had the chance to answer. Because in the next moment, it felt like reality skipped a beat – with sharp recognition, Haruka sensed the tremors travelling through the foundations of the building before the floor beneath them suddenly began to shake.

"An–– earthquake?" Rin stammered with equal surprise, yet within seconds they locked gazes with something even more alarmed: as disastrous as earthquakes were to an already weakened infrastructure, in a world full of water, true terror lay in what they roused in their wake.

" _Shit_ ," Rin swore, turning on his heels, "We have to leave, right now, a single tidal wave could total this entire––"

"I know, alright?!"

The sheer despair in Haruka's voice was enough to catch Rin off guard, but Haruka didn't care.

They might only have minutes left to scrape together their entire life to escape, but Haruka didn't care.

Because the only thing he found himself able to concentrate on was Makoto, and the memory of a pink-haired boy they'd befriended at thirteen – a boy they'd helplessly watched drown in a tidal wave not unlike the one that might follow today.

"Haru––" Rin began, but Haruka pushed past him. The possibility that Makoto would blank out like he had done in the past was enough to freeze Haruka's blood solid; he had to get to him first, _had to_ , because if there was no Makoto then there was absolutely nothing he would ever have to return home _to_ ––

"I'll get the twins," he heard Rin speak, cutting through his panic with a calm resolve; catching up with Haruka down the corridor, Rin's eyes fixed ahead with all the confidence of someone who knew what it meant not being able to afford to stall. "Make sure he gets out of here, alright?"

He didn't wait around for Haruka's response, darting into a sprint far faster than Haruka's own. As the building continued to shake, pieces of rubble rained down from the upper floors, and Haruka nearly missed his step; when Rin disappeared around the corner, for a split second Haruka felt... afraid.

No, he had never really thought about the day he might die.

But for the first time in longer than he could remember, Haruka knew he absolutely did not want that day to be today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Introducing Matsuoka Gou. I'd say it's about damn time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A plot, in a fic I wrote?
> 
> It's more likely than you think.

He recalled the scent of lilacs.

Or maybe he imagined it, he couldn't say. The memory intertwined with the impending ache in his back, his arms, every muscle in his body like someone had slammed into him with a truck – only trucks on the streets of Tokyo today were as likely as a hundred foot Anpanman, if not less so.

"Hello, hello!"

Something soft brushed at his cheek, and Makoto opened his eyes.

Upside down, peering at him from above, were the curious red eyes of a young woman. Regarding him with fascination, she quickly flipped her head up, and the long red braid _swished_ as she went; noticing this, the woman lifted one hand to pin it in a neat bun on the back of her head.

"Ah, you're finally awake. Good. I was hoping that would happen, before Sousuke-kun got back."

She took a seat next to the bed Makoto now realized he was gracelessly lying on. The entire room was sparse, barely larger than a shoebox, but also neatly decorated with what little the inhabitant had lying around.

"No, no, wait for it," the woman spoke up before Makoto had the chance to open his mouth; scrunching her brows together, she closed her eyes and waved a hand in front of her face. "Let me guess... my psychic senses tell me you're thinking, _where am I? And who is this heavenly creature before me?_ "

Tilting her head, she looked back at him and laughed. "Just kidding. I'm Gou. You're in Shin–– well, you're at the Samezuka headquarters. Well, you're in my room, but only because oniichan and Sousuke-kun's room can only fit so many people."

_Ren. Ran._

_Haru._

The haste of Makoto's panic slammed into him with almost as much strength as the boulder he vaguely remembered a wave sending down his course. He remembered–– Ren scrambling together his valuables, and Rei screaming something about books, and how none of it had felt real in the seconds it had taken for their entire Shibuya residence to come collapsing down in a sea of salt.

 _What did I do?_ He couldn't remember that, either. It was as though he had watched it all, from somewhere afar, like the people he loved and the people he cared about belonged to a life of someone else. Haruka screaming wordlessly in his face, the dumbfounded terror in Ran's eyes. Nagisa’s lightheartedness dousing with fear.

_You couldn't do anything._

"Is everyone–– are they alright?"

Makoto didn't mean for it to come out so guilty, but a strange helplessness weighed him down. Gou looked up at him, surprised, but her smile soon softened with compassion.

"Don't worry," she said, "Your family is alive."

It seemed almost morbid to realize this – the difference between someone like him and someone like Gou, in a simple slip of the tongue. The thought made Makoto nearly burst out in exhausted laughter, because in this reality, _alright_ was synonymous with _alive_.

"Can I see them?" he asked, feeling very exhausted once the adrenaline began to leave his body, and Gou nodded.

The hallway they walked along was almost as narrow as Gou's room. On their way down, a sudden heated argument caught their ear; Makoto recognized only one of the voices, but whoever Rin was fighting with didn't sound like the kind of person who would take kindly to eavesdroppers.

Still, Makoto felt his footsteps slowing down with morbid curiosity, similar to the one that lit up in Gou's eyes.

"––followed me?! I thought you were supposed to _vouch_ for me, not bust my ass!!"

"What do you think I was doing?! If I'd just let you run off to play water tag like a middle-schooler with a crush, all of you'd be hundred feet underground right about now!”

"That's–– I fucking had it covered, okay?!"

"You mean before or after the whole building started to cave in?!"

"Tch––"

"You know what, Rin? Screw this. I have like five minutes before I have to go in and explain to the Captain why our quarters have turned into a goddamn Love Hotel, so I really don't have time for your stupidity, okay?"

With commendable synchronicity, Gou and Makoto flattened their backs against the wall as a tall, dark-haired man stomped out of the room. They could still hear Rin swearing inside, and a loud clatter where he must have kicked something over; from the corner of his eye, Makoto noticed Gou biting on her lip.

"We should go," she whispered, and gently tugged at Makoto to follow along.

His sister and brother were having breakfast, Gou supposed once they reached the room they had stayed in, and only found a sleeping Haruka. Curled up on another tiny bed, he looked so much younger than his age; only a few bruises and cuts spoke on behalf of injury, but the vulnerability of his posture as his fingers clutched a thin pillow made Makoto's chest ache.

_How are you supposed to take care of him, when you can't even take care of yourself?_

Makoto rarely felt this self-deprecating, but it was hard to remain upbeat when he had come so close to losing his family in the blink of an eye. Had it not been for all these people –people he didn’t even know!–, the past fifteen years might have washed away like meaningless history, and the futility of that knowledge twisted Makoto’s insides into knots.

“Thank you,” he said in a tiny voice, resting on the bed next to Haruka’s sleeping form. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you for all this trouble.”

Plopping down on the opposite bed, Gou tucked her hands under her thighs. “It’s not like it was you who caused that earthquake,” she said softly, “Besides, I’m used to trouble. I’m sorry you had to listen to oniichan and Sousuke-kun fight.”

At first, the mismatched comparison struck Makoto as odd. But in the reassuring smile that accompanied Gou’s words, Makoto quickly understood she was offering him a way out: instead of obligation, he could simply accept their help. A more prideful man might have rejected her cue, but Makoto was not that kind of a man; because he knew, too, that there were other ways in which he could repay her kindness.

“It’s alright,” he said, pieces of the regular Makoto slowly beginning to rearrange within him, “…Do you want to talk about it?”

The flicker in her red eyes gave away Gou’s initial surprise, but she was just as quick to seize an unusual chance at comfort. “…They're not always like that. Well. Sometimes they are. But it's–– complicated."

She took a deep breath, then leaned back to stare at the ceiling. Makoto did not urge her on to continue, but something told him she had probably been hoping for someone to listen for a long time.

"Who am I kidding, it's been this way for months," Gou groaned, clenching one hand into a fist, "Because of Sousuke-kun's..."

She swallowed, looking a little sheepish, but decided to go on nonetheless. “…Do you know what Sea Disease is?"

Makoto shook his head.

"It's what they call people who have bad tolerance to the bacteria in the water," Gou said, like a rehearsed line. "Mostly, it's old people. People who were adults when the Submerge first began. That's why so many of our parents were among the first to die, because they had zero resistance – even now, there's still people with better tolerance than others, so it’s kind of like a genetic gamble.

"Me? I'm okay with the water, I guess. But I can't swim as well as the rest of the team… ironic, huh? For someone who's Captain Mikoshiba's Second in Command, I mean... but I get by. I’ve other things I can do.”

She paused to grin wryly to herself, and Makoto reckoned he was probably better off not asking her to elaborate.

“Oniichan, of course, excels in both,” Gou went on, a hint of pride sneaking into her voice, “Because he always excels in everything he's passionate about, and I guess he was born passionate about water."

She bit on her lip again. "Sousuke-kun, though... He’s an excellent swimmer, always has been. But… the water rejects him, unlike it does for my brother, or your friend here. He tried to hide it at first, but the thing about Sea Disease is that even if it doesn’t kill you, it begins to erode away at your skin. We have wetsuits to make up for that now, of course – but because of his stubbornness growing up, Sousuke-kun can only spend a few hours in the water at a time. Which is why he can only do so much for the team.”

“…Which is what makes him so angry,” Makoto concluded gently, “…Because compared to your brother, he feels useless.”

Gou nodded. “I thought things would get better once we joined Samezuka, and in a lot of ways they have. But I think they keep clashing even worse now, with oniichan’s abilities making him First in Command, and Sousuke-kun…”

She finished the sentence with a sigh. Makoto offered her a reassuring smile, one she had traded with him only minutes before. “It’ll be alright,” he said. “Things might not be–– ideal, right now, but it sounds to me like all of you care about each other very much. People who really care about one another always find a way of working things out in the end.”

He wasn’t quite sure why he was so confident to speak on behalf of complete strangers, but there was an open warmth to Gou’s entire presence that made him want to try; when she returned his smile with a spirited nod, the final remnants of the courage washed away by last night’s tidal wave clicked back in place inside Makoto’s heart.

 

 

 

“Haru-niisan!!”

Ran’s hand lifted off Makoto’s arm the second Haruka appeared in the doorway. Watching his sister dash off to greet him, Makoto was relieved to note Haruka looked more or less intact even while awake; the shadows under his eyes belied mild disorientation, but as soon as Haruka’s gaze left Makoto’s and trailed across the room to Rin, it quickly grew unusually charged.

Once upon a time, to witness Haruka fighting back such obvious intensity might have left Makoto dumbfounded. But the moment this sharp-smiled stranger had showed up in Shibuya, Makoto had known he was _different_ – because it had never once been Haruka who had made acquaintances or befriended people, who regarded others as anything other than a liability, so for Rin to cut through that barrier in mere hours meant that no standard rules of Haruka no longer applied.

Less than a minute later, a blond head peered into the room. “Oh! So here you are! I was starting to get lost, wandering around this place and trying to find someone who didn’t look like they wanted to eat me.”

“Nagisa,” Makoto sighed with relief; Gou had told him Sousuke had seen everyone make it out alive, but it was different to confirm this with first-hand experience. “I’m so happy you’re alright!”

“Nothing can take down the great Hazuki Nagisa!” Nagisa grinned, letting his eyes scan the room. “Looks like we’re all he–– …Uh, where’s Rei-chan?”

Like a record drawing to an abrupt still, the whole room grew silent.

“…You mean he wasn’t with you this whole time?” Rin was the first to step up, again; his tone contained all the slowly sinking disbelief mirrored on everyone’s face. When Nagisa shook his head, all at once Makoto’s heart felt heavy as his head felt light.

“No, that’s––“ the man named Sousuke contested, shaking his head, “We got everyone out of the building before it collapsed. Rin with the twins, me with blondie and Haruk––“

“Nanase,” Haruka snapped, but Sousuke glared him off before he went on.

“––And Gou with Tachibana, so…” He stalled, brows knitting together in sudden confusion.

“Well obviously your math is failing you,” Rin barked, grabbing Sousuke by the collar with more vigor than Makoto had probably ever confronted a person with, “Why didn’t you tell me nobody was fucking checking for him?!”

“I swear I saw–– someone with the scientist kid,” Sousuke stammered, bewildered rather than afraid, “But I don’t… If it wasn’t you, me, or Gou, then…”

“No.”

The unexpected seriousness of Nagisa’s tone silenced their argument. Drawing everyone’s full attention, Nagisa’s face had turned into a mask of upset determination. “Rei-chan’s _not_ dead. And I can prove it.”

Digging deep into his pockets, he fished out a tiny, round object with a feebly flickering light.

Haruka’s eyes widened. “The Revice?”

“Please never ever call it that again or I’ll have to clock you out,” Rin cut him off, closing the distance between himself and Nagisa to observe the device. “Nagisa, do you mean you could track down Rei with this thing?”

Nagisa nodded with enthusiasm. “If it displays Rei-chan’s current location, we could go out there and find him!”

“All it means is that the device is still out there somewhere,” Sousuke noted pensively. “Whether it’s connected to a living person or not is debatable.”

“No, Rei-chan is alive, I’m sure of it,” Nagisa insisted. When he looked up at Rin, there was pleading and hopefulness in his gaze. “You’ll help me find him, right? I’m–– I’m a pretty good swimmer, but Rei-chan, he’s–– he can barely swim. I can’t help him alone.”

Before Rin could respond, Sousuke shot him a warning look. “Rin. You do know how much trouble you are with the Captain as is?”

“I––“ Rin began, but as if speaking of the devil, his response was stalled by an opening door. Makoto sensed one half of the room growing tense as two men stepped in, one tall and one short – both with fiery orange hair.

“Gou-chaaaaann!!” the younger one of the two cried out, breaking the tension as he lunged at Gou. She merely side-stepped, and the kid bashed his head into the wall with a wail; rubbing at his head afterwards, the injury did little to deter his enthusiasm. “I was–– when Niichan told me you braved that tidal wave, I was so worried! And impressed! You’re the bravest woman alive!”

“Shut up, Momo,” Rin kneed him in the back, and glanced up to face the taller man head on. From the respect that bowed Rin’s head, Makoto could only assume this person was the Captain they had all been talking about.

“If you’re here to reprimand me, then I take full responsibility,” Rin said, keeping his head down, “Sousuke and Gou weren’t at fault. It was me that got everyone in danger.”

There was a pause before the Captain replied, a suspense holding Makoto’s breath at bay.

“One of these days, instead of all this diving gear, I’m going to invest in a mad scientist,” the Captain finally sighed, slamming a hand on his forehead, “So I could combine Yamazaki’s brains and your body into the perfect minion.”

“Gou-chan is already the perfect underling!” the man Rin had identified as Momo yelped, but the Captain grinned wryly.

“True, but her brother is still a hopeless idiot, which makes her just as liable.”

“Um,” Nagisa piped up before Rin and Gou could defend their family honour, “I know a scientist. Though not ma–– well. He’s a little mad, I guess.”

“Huh?” The Captain blurted out, but Nagisa wasted no time in seizing an opening when he saw one: courageously stepping forward, he bowed his head lightly while brandishing the tiny device in his hand.

“You said you have need for diving gear, right? Well, the guy I’m talking about–– he’s the best inventor there is. He made this. It’s a tracking device, using abandoned satellite connections as GPS.”

A burst of excitement lit up Momo’s face without a second’s delay. “Niichan!! Did he say tracking device? He did, didn’t he?”

“And your angle is…?” the Captain brushed him off, addressing Nagisa directly. It was clear that Nagisa’s opportunist streak had caught his attention, but he also wasn’t naive enough to ignore the likelihood of his personal agenda.

“Before Rei-chan can possibly hypothetically theoretically create any, I need to find him,” Nagisa replied; secretly, Makoto felt very impressed at how undaunted he appeared while bargaining with the boss of the entire Samezuka team. “Which is why I need you guys to help me.”

“Niichaaann,” Momo kept wailing in the background, “I want one, let me have one!”

“Captain, I should go,” Rin grabbed Momo’s forehead to silence him. “As penalty for acting out of order.“

“You’re saying I should send one of my best men out on a wild goose chase over some technology that may or may not exist?” the Captain repeated, but his amusement came with no malicious intent.

Rin shook his head. “No, I’ve seen it – the tech is real. And given that I actually know the guy in question, I should be the one to recover it, and make this whole circus worth your time.”

As much respect as Rin addressed the Captain with, the curious thing to Makoto was that the whole conversation also felt very… familial in tone. He had always envisioned all street gangs as hideouts for cold, merciless people with a desire to see the world burn, but everyone in this room struck him as the polar opposite. Gou’s compassion, Rin’s drivenness, Momo’s childlike spirit – even as stern as Sousuke came off, they all regarded one another with affection.

“Great!” Nagisa cheered, unabashed at tackling the Captain’s chance to so much as respond, “So me and Rin-chan will go out and save Rei-chan, and––“

“I’ll go.”

Makoto gave a light start when he heard Haruka calmly speak out, and his words sounded solemn yet resolved. “Nagisa’s not a bad swimmer. But I’m better. We’ve known each other for almost a year now; Rei is my responsibility too.”

“Haru?” Makoto breathed out, uncertain if what he felt was really surprise. Haruka had always kept a polite distance with Nagisa and Rei, but whether he liked it or not, all of them had become friends over time; there must have been something to Rin’s willingness to volunteer that tugged on Haruka’s conscience.

 _…Unless that’s not all there is to it?_ Makoto also couldn’t help but wonder, as an unreadable look from Rin made Haruka’s gaze turn astray; but he had little time to speculate over Haruka’s decision when the door behind the Captain burst open with haste.

“Captain!! Captain, it’s urgent–– the survey team found a vessel crashed into one of the buildings less than a hundred meters from here. The wave must have sent it.”

The Captain grew alert in an instant, fixing his eyes on the man who had dashed into the room. “Are there survivors?”

“Well, we––“ the man stammered, hesitating briefly before he went on. “We only found one person.”

“Is it the enemy?”

“No, it’s–– it’s a young man. And… and a duck.”

This time, the first person to react was Sousuke with a groan.

“You have _got_ to be fucking kidding me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Makoto.
> 
> That is all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halloween and night shifts at work killed my momentum, but I'm here to pick it back up.
> 
> Thanks to anyone who has been reading so far.

 

It looked like a duck.

It walked like a duck.

"That can't be a duck," Sousuke muttered next to Rin, and for the first time today, he agreed. Call him crazy, but the neighbourhoods around here weren't exactly suited for keeping pets.

"I call him Tapioca," said the young man they had fished from the crashed vessel, cradling the duck protectively in his arms. In part, his suspicion was more than warranted, as Rin had noted many of his teammates eyeing at the waterfowl with hunger evident in their long stares.

“And what does Tapioca call you?” Captain asked, amused by the sudden turn of events. He'd always had a funny way of shifting between lighthearted and serious, which clearly unsettled their marooned guest.

Straightening up in an almost unintentional salute, the young man blurted out: “N, Nitori, sir. Nitori Aiichirou. I’m–– I’m very sorry for crashing our family's ship in your territory.”

At this, Captain merely nodded. Although their team had not discovered anyone else on board, the implication of his words was clear; Rin could only guess how long Nitori had been stuck drifting endlessly on that sailboat, alone with his duck.

“Well, Nitori,” Captain then went on, folding his arms over his chest, “While I’m not faulting you for failing to control nature, shipwrecks tend to attract vultures. Which, understandably, could become very troublesome for us.”

Sensing another opening to inch his way into the discussion, Nagisa pushed his way past Rin and Sousuke. “I know! How about Rin-chan and Haru-chan take the ship and use it to find Rei-chan?”

“Nice try,” Rin shook his head, yanking Nagisa back by the collar of his shirt, “But the hull is bust. It’s going to take at least a few of days to fix, if not more.”

While Nagisa puffed out his cheeks in complaint, Nitori shifted uncomfortably. “I, I completely understand if you'd rather just disassemble the ship. Tapioca and I mean no harm.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Sousuke cut in, and Rin recognized the almost morose tone in his voice as one that belied his sympathy, “We’re not gonna demolish the last thing you have left of your family.”

At this, Nitori appeared genuinely surprised. In his arms, Tapioca quacked and Nitori scratched the back of his head in mild fluster. “Well, there’s––“ he stuttered, seemingly confused over whether he ought to regard Samezuka as support, or fear for his life. “At the very least, there are parts you could use. To make up for the trouble, I mean–– the navigator still works, for example.”

“Navigator?” Nagisa repeated, all trace of former disappointment washing away as a proverbial light bulb lit up over his head. “Could you show it to me, Ai-chan?”

As many liberties as Nagisa had taken with addressing near-strangers, it was Nitori who frowned at his familial tone. Perhaps mistaking Nagisa for a Samezuka member and deciding not to push his luck, though, Nitori just nodded. “Sure. Only the latitude and longitude work, so it’s not equipped for ocean sailing anymore, but I was still able to use it to reach Tokyo.”

“That’s perfect!” Nagisa beamed, then turned to Rin to explain. “I’m not a scientist like Rei-chan, but I can–– well, I’ve engineered some of his stuff over the years, and I think I might be able to link the satellite in his device with ours. If it helps us track Rei-chan’s actual location instead of just his movement, you’ll be able to find him in no time. Not to mention we could keep track of _you_.”

To be fair, it shouldn’t have come to Rin as such a surprise that this plan actually worked. While most people probably looked at Nagisa and only saw a lighthearted kid, beneath that exterior lurked a dangerously sharp mind, one that had clearly spent years salvaging items like a modern day McGyver. Once Nitori retrieved his navigator and Nagisa’s nimble fingers landed on the tiny display, Rin was pretty sure the guy could even learn to work his way around in space.

It took him a couple of hours, but before long Nagisa’s face lit up. “I think I got it! This signal here is us – and this one, according to the Revice, is Rei-chan. Now, let’s see if the navigator lets me pull up a map and layer it on top of them both… Ah-ha!”

It was no Google Maps, but when the visual filled the display screen, Rin felt his jaw tighten. “… _Shit._ ”

“…That’s Akiba, isn’t it?” Sousuke muttered dryly, and Rin could almost feel his disapproval at this whole excursion flowing off his tone. By his side, Gou sighed.

“Why not just send more people with oniichan and Ha–– Nanase-san?” she asked. “I might not be as good a swimmer as them, but if they’re headed for enemy territory, I’d feel better about going along.”

Captain shook his head, though. “We can’t risk this little rescue mission of yours attracting too much attention. Besides, I need you at the headquarters for the next couple of days while I’m away in Shinagawa – I’ve been trying to work on this peace treaty for weeks, and I can’t have all that blowing over if my best combatant shows up in full assault.”

Gou’s cheeks puffed up a lot like Nagisa’s had done a moment ago, but she held her tongue. Rin couldn’t blame her; in all honesty, as much as he hated putting his sister in danger, Rin would have felt a lot less uneasy if Gou had been given permission to come along, too.

“…What about us?” Makoto asked hesitantly, and the bewildered look on his face reminded Rin that he had been drafted into all of this just as unwillingly. He and the twins had kept silent until now, but clearly he wasn't going to keep silent for longer if Haruka was headed somewhere dangerous. “We… well, our home got destroyed, and..."

“I’m sure you can all find a way to make yourselves useful around here,” Captain grinned, cutting the discussion short with clear intent: he wasn't about to kick anyone out into the wild, but would not take responsibility for Makoto's siblings in his potential absence. Either they all stayed, or no-one did – and when Captain glanced at Sousuke, the stifled groan that came in response was enough proof of who was now in charge of looking after Makoto and the twins.

Turning back to Rin, Captain’s expression briefly turned serious. “Look, Matsuoka. I’ll be honest with you – this whole thing might be a mistake. If you go and get yourself killed, I’ll have a hell of a time trying to find a swimmer as good as you. But the whole reason I started this team was because I wanted to do things differently, and find people crazy enough to tag along. So while I might not endorse everything you’ve been up to behind my back lately, I have to respect your dedication to follow it through.”

Rin felt his mouth twisting into a smile. Still, as the reality of Captain’s approval dawned on him, he intuitively glanced over to where Haruka still stood by Makoto’s side. He had remained quiet ever since his offer to take Nagisa’s place, but it was impossible to say if he had grown to regret that choice.

As if sensing his stare, though, Haruka turned his head.

“Well?” he said, and with that single gaze, fixed Rin in place.

 

 

 

In the two-and-a-half days he'd had the questionable pleasure of knowing Nanase Haruka, Rin had understood there truly was little room for Perfect Plans. This didn’t mean Nagisa and Gou didn't do their best to draft up one: once it became apparent that Rei’s signal really was coming from somewhere in the former Electric Town of Akihabara, Gou dug up everything in her possession to help aid a mission of stealth. 

Haruka had been reluctant to familiarize himself with a wet-suit, but Makoto convinced him that proper insulation would be his friend at night. As Gou likewise did her best to drill home the basic requirements for approaching enemy lines, Rin couldn't help but wonder how mentally equipped Haruka was to make that leap from scavenging at all; still, since Captain had specifically warned them to avoid causing a scene, perhaps this endeavor was the perfect middle ground.

All throughout this, Sousuke did not object once. It did not mean he approved of it, either, which was why Rin wanted to settle their former argument before heading out. He knew Sousuke hated having to wait at Samezuka like a babysitter while Rin ran around risking his life for people he barely even knew. They rarely discussed Sousuke’s injury, but watching Haruka so effortlessly take his place must have felt like added insult.

However, any feeble words of solace were lost in confusion once Rin headed for the dorm. In the corridor, he could hear the sound of a conversation waged in low tones, then a passing silence before Sousuke’s familiar silhouette disappeared behind the corner. When Rin came in full view, the person standing in front of his and Sousuke’s room was Haruka.

“…What’s going on?” Rin asked on reflex, suspicion dawning on him like a knee-jerk reaction.

Haruka only shook his head. “Nothing,” he said, and brushed past Rin. “We should go.”

It was the most transparent lie Rin had probably heard in his life, but its audacity threw him off long enough to follow. The fight he’d had with Sousuke still tugged on Rin’s conscience, but something told him its full resolution would simply have to wait until they came back.

Luckily, it didn’t take long for their current situation to render any external concerns moot. Gou saw them off with one more final briefing, and with commendable precision, went over the rough outline of the mission. Any up-to-date information they had of Akiba was vague at best, so she had prepared a number of potential access routes to account for security; the plan was to locate wherever Rei had washed up at after the tidal wave, bring him back, and hopefully avoid anyone finding out that the three of them were there in the first place.

“Remember, you’re not supposed to do all this in a day,” she stressed, “Your best chance at going in unnoticed is at the break of dawn, so you should camp out somewhere near Iidabashi today. Or Kanda, if you can make it that far. And remember to take lots of breaks. You’ll need stamina to get back, too.”

“I know, I know,” Rin pulled a face, but his grimace soon softened into a smile. Ruffling Gou’s bangs as if to ward her off, Rin honestly felt a whole lot more confident knowing that she could at least track their progress. Each of them was strong individually, but these past years had truly highlighted how important it was to have the support of your family on your side.

He was sure Haruka was thinking of the same thing, expressing a curt yet honest goodbye to Makoto. Why it made Rin feel so guilty, he couldn’t really say; although it had been Haruka’s choice to come along, a strange nagging doubt kept Rin on his toes as if he was somehow disrupting a life that wasn’t his to interfere. The whole reason they were here to begin was because Rin could have sworn that he had felt _something_ , a wordless connection between himself and Haruka before – yet it kept slipping back and forth like unstable transmission, forcing Rin to second guess whether he had simply imagined it all.

But like flickers of synchronicity, it wasn't mere imagination that tuned that transmission back in as soon as they left Samezuka behind. No, Rin knew it was more than wishful thinking, watching life re-ignite on Haruka’s face after hours of stifling air as they broke through to the surface; and so, when Rin turned his head around, he was almost surprised at how effortlessly the words came.

“Hey, I bet you can’t race me down the first three blocks.”

The tiniest down-tilt of Haruka’s head made his hair shift, but not low enough to cover the spark of his eyes.

“Whatever,” he muttered, but the split second reaction to Rin’s abrupt start gave away the tension in his muscles all the same.

Reaching out, it felt like the water paved way for each breath he drew in. He was both impressed and curious to note that the change in swimming gear did not stall Haruka for longer than the initial adjustment phase, after which Rin could feel him dead-set on his trail. The speed at which Haruka could adapt was almost astounding, because within seconds he had already caught up; Rin had never met a single soul who could breach the water with such fluency, comparable to –or even greater than– his own, and even in his haste, Rin could feel it sending a jolt down his spine.

Maybe it wasn’t the–– right time, or the right place, considering what lay up ahead. Of all the chances in the world, maybe Rin should not have chosen this exact one to degenerate into a twelve-year-old, but as the adrenaline of competition dissolved into genuine thrill, something small and long since buried came alive inside him, like it had done the day before.

Later, Rin would come to blame it on the sudden time paradox that warped his brain with that of his juvenile, childhood self. Because when Haruka’s shoulder pushed past his and saltwater splashed on Rin’s face, he felt his hand sneak out and grab Haruka’s arm, submerging the two of them at once.

However, when Haruka instinctively turned to face Rin, there was no anger on his face – only brief surprise, then the tiniest wry smile, before his shoulders pulled back and his knees lifted underwater to flip turn off Rin’s chest.

“Hey?!” Rin literally stammered into the water, but it came out as a cough. Once his head pulled above the surface, his lungs were cramping up with laughter and inhaled water, but the automated sync of his reflexes sent him back in pursuit.

As swiftly as Haruka had reacted before, his own disorientation almost sent him on a crash course with the sudden building that stood in their way. In the seconds it took Rin to close the distance between them, he watched Haruka reach up on a fire ladder, choosing to go over rather than around. The error of his choice became apparent as soon as Rin realized how little Haruka’s speed translated to dry land; on foot, Rin crossed the rooftop twice as quickly, using the momentum to dive back in without missing a beat.

It was a beat he missed tenfolds, though, when he wasted a second turning around to gauge Haruka’s distance. The prospect of defeat had clearly sparked an unexpected, spirited nerve in Haruka, who abandoned all form and streamlined perfection to dive after Rin–– no, instead of diving, Haruka had noticed a window of opportunity in Rin’s stalling, and _lunged_ at Rin instead.

This time, when Haruka’s body collided with Rin’s, they both sank like stones. Perhaps, Rin only had himself to blame: this whole race had gone from disciplined to anarchy the moment he had sabotaged Haruka by pulling on his arm. But it wasn’t a normal race anyway, and both of them knew; because in the laughter and tussle and completely graceless attempts to wrestle to the surface, Rin could also feel each remnant of last night’s unpleasant ordeal draining away.

The surface welcomed them with splashing and salt, but when Haruka leaned back to catch his breath, Rin could have sworn he saw a weight leaving his shoulders where stress and anxiety had dragged them down before. A wordless agreement seemed to conclude their race as a draw, but when Haruka glanced back at him with honest relief, the warmth that washed over Rin felt like a victory in and of itself.

“We, we should probably take a break,” he choked out, fighting back a strange, overwhelmed lightness in his bones. “...Like Gou said. ‘Cause of. You know. Stamina. And stuff.”

For a brief pit-stop hideout, the first building with more than one floor above water level would do. It wasn’t hard to find abandoned locations in this area, after all; between Shinjuku and Akihabara, most people knew to steer clear of gang territory. 

“We probably won’t run into many people along the Chuo,” Rin explained later, referring to the route after its former railway line, “But we should still try and remain subtle about being sighted. The less people know we’re headed to Akiba, the better.”

“…Was that your interpretation of subtle?” Haruka replied, keeping his voice dead-pan as he observed the drying mechanism of his wetsuit; Captain had lent him a shorter-styled one that only came up to his knees and elbows after Haruka had expressed dislike at feeling too confined. Rin personally didn’t like the thought of baring his legs to whatever lurked in the depths, but he rarely wore his sleeves longer than elbow-length either – whether Sousuke’s jabs at Rin only wanting to show off his biceps had anything to do with this, well, that was neither here nor there.

“That was–– shut up,” Rin snapped in response, pretending to concentrate on the tracking device Nagisa had lent them for measuring their position to Rei’s. They still had a fair amount of daylight at their disposal, but only if they kept their breaks brief; any more juvenile racing, and they might not make it to Iidabashi before nightfall.

Still, something made Rin hesitate.

“Listen, I…”

No, at this point Rin might have to accept that nothing about their current predicament was the perfect time, the perfect place, the perfect _anything_ – yet if he wanted to seize these moments, to explore the reasons why something about Haruka’s presence nonetheless made him want to speak out, maybe that meant it was the only time that counted at all.

“…I guess I just wanted you to have fun. You know, since I kinda messed that up last time.”

Haruka’s head lifted, and for a moment Rin could read genuine confusion on his face. When the memory clicked, Haruka’s gaze trailed off with something almost… sheepish?

“…That wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known.”

It wasn’t an invitation to pry, any more than it implied the discussion was over. So much of Haruka seemed to work like that, after all; and whether or not Rin was fighting a losing battle, trying to bust through that barrier out of sheer curiosity, it was his own natural instinct that nonetheless made Rin want to try.

“Did I make you recall some kind of a traumatic memory?” he asked, half-expecting Haruka’s gaze to harden like stone.

Instead, when Haruka eyed back at him, the softness that settled on his lips momentarily caught Rin out of breath.

“No,” came Haruka’s response. “…It was the happiest one of my life.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long live Tapioca.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what's back from hiatus.
> 
> That's right, super speedy dystopian AU that serves no purpose apart from being my playground, that's what.
> 
> I hope you still enjoy.

 

 

He knew it was a mistake the second the words left his mouth.

The memory of the one final Summer with his mother was like a snapshot Haruka had always tried to treasure before it faded with time. He had been counting on the years to tear at the edges of those mental photographs, but in the light of the glow-worms they had all come flooding back in.

And now Rin knew.

Haruka wasn’t sure why he’d said it; the look on Rin’s face shifted with something completely unprepared, as unprepared for the admission as Haruka felt himself. It must have only been because – no, perhaps – he shook his head.

So bothersome, all of it.

“Your sister said we should try and make it to Iidabashi before nightfall. So we shouldn’t waste too much time.”

The look Rin shot him was cautious, like treading the space around an unpredictable wild animal, but eventually softened into a nod. He must have sensed the abrupt closure on Haruka’s honesty, but had the sensibility to tread no further.

The strangest thing about this, though, was that Haruka couldn’t say why it made him feel as disappointed as it did relieved.

_It’s better off this way_ , said the tiny voice at the back of his head when Rin turned to stretch out his arms. Most weaves of conflicting emotion had always found a way of washing away once the ocean pulled him in; and it wasn’t that it didn’t bring him solace to leap back into the waves painted grey by the already darkened sky, but Rin’s presence followed him right into the water and made it impossible to forget.

Still, the silence that accompanied the rest of their journey did not feel pressuring. The more street blocks fell behind, the more it was necessitated by subtlety –a real one, this time– as they slowly but surely drew closer to Iidabashi. By the time they started looking for a place to camp out for the night, Haruka realized he hadn’t even noticed how exhausted his arms had become.

Saving a respectful thought to Gou’s foresight and strategic ability, he continued to hold his tongue until Rin beckoned at a building located between two other taller ones. “The shadows will help keep track of dawn. It’s better to rely on coverage rather than time.”

Another run-down office block, another worn-out hall. Amidst the concrete, Haruka heard his footsteps come in a series of soft, wet thuds, and couldn’t help being reminded of their now-destroyed home in Shibuya; the sun that filtered through the broken windows even felt the same, a fleeting warmth that passed across the floor as he followed Rin inside.

“They’ll be safe at Samezuka, Haru.”

Yanking his head up, Haruka met Rin’s solemn gaze. Whether Rin had read his thoughts or not, his expression was calm.

“If I had to trust my life in anyone’s hands, there’s no-one on earth I’d rather pick than Gou and Sousuke,” Rin went on, crouching by the wall to begin setting up camp, “Makoto and the twins will be fine.”

Haruka opened his mouth as if to debunk such worry, but closed it as soon as he recognized its futility. Of course he was concerned; there was nobody else he fully trusted to be around Makoto if something like the tidal wave occurred again, because they simply didn’t _understand_ ––

“He’s not helpless, you know.”

Again, Haruka gave a start. How did Rin even _do_ that?

“I’m not saying that to belittle anything Makoto’s gone through,” Rin said, looking back at Haruka with an air of unmistakable empathy, “We’ve… it’s not a life that’s been easy on any one of us, I guess. We’ve all got our demons to overcome.”

He sighed before he continued. “But I’ve seen many people in my life both fall and rise to that challenge, and Makoto doesn’t strike me as someone who would fold in the face of something that really matters. You just have to trust him to trust himself to find that courage.”

Haruka turned his head away.

“…Sorry,” he heard Rin breathe out, mistaking his unresponsiveness as a breach of privacy, “…It’s none of my business, I know.”

_It’s alright_ , Haruka wanted to say, watching Rin turn back to organizing his gear; but it got stuck in his throat, somewhere between the part of him that once more felt both solace and unease at Rin’s words.

“We should–– take turns, I guess,” Rin said, purposefully changing subject once Haruka’s silence persisted, “Just in case someone followed us. If I get a few hours’ worth of sleep, I can cover for the morning and wake you up when it’s time to head out.”

Haruka nodded. Instinctively, he took a seat near where Rin slumped down against the wall. Stretching out his legs, Rin’s shoulder blades cracked with fatigue as he leaned back, but the way his eyes flicked closed felt more like acceptance of Haruka's rebuff.

“…Rin.”

At the sound of Haruka’s voice, one eye opened in relief.

“…I’ve…” Haruka went on, hesitant yet determined to get the words out. In many ways, it was embarrassing to admit to, but part of him still wanted Rin not to misunderstand. “…I’ve never been away from them like this before. Not since the submerge.”

Rin’s shadow shifted, and with it his body seemed to huddle a little closer. There were many things Rin could have said in that moment, perhaps even misinterpret as he’d done so often before, but no; because when his arm leaned over and nudged at Haruka’s, Rin’s tone was filled with something unreadable yet firm.

“You’re not helpless either, though.”

By now it shouldn’t have come as any real surprise, yet Rin’s subtle understanding of everything he had not said aloud still sent a wave of warmth down Haruka's spine. It seemed–– bothersome, too, but in a way that made him avert his gaze in bewilderment rather than disdain.

"...I mean, clearly you don't know what the hell you've gotten yourself into," Rin hastily added, playing off the sudden, unintentional compassion in his voice, "But you're... not holding up too bad for a newbie, huh?"

He finished with a laughter that must have sounded exaggerated even in Rin's own ears, because his face twisted with an awkward grimace before Rin yanked his head away.

"Uh, okay, I'll just try and get some sleep," he muttered, so transparent in his embarrassment that Haruka couldn't help the corner of his mouth curving into a small smile. Somehow, the fact that Rin was also struggling with this whole bordering-on-friendship thing was oddly comforting to behold.

"...It'll be uncomfortable like that," he heard himself speak out, uncertain what really prompted the thought. It had been a long time since anyone had actually expressed the desire to be Haruka's friend; a far longer time since he had felt any inclination to welcome, let alone explore such pursuit.

Still, his hand did not waver as it gestured at his own, folded legs, and glanced back at Rin. "...You can rest on me, if you want."

This time, there was nothing unexpected about the awkwardness on Rin's face. "Wh–– that's not–– I can just as easily––"

The tirade of predictable excuses made Haruka roll his eyes. Tentative friendship or no, Rin clearly couldn't help being an insufferable, self-conscious dork.

"Then don't," he cut Rin off. "But if your shoulders are too stiff to swim in the morning, I'm not pulling you along."

The prospect must have been one Rin recognized, because it made him wince. With an air of hesitation, he finally stretched out to lay his head against the side of Haruka's thigh, though not without muttering one last complaint.

"If you see or hear anything weird, you gotta let me know at once," Rin began, as if hopelessly clinging to his pride while his wet hair splayed across Haruka's lap, "You don't know what it's... like to deal with..."

"...Deal with what?" Haruka finished, unable to hide his amusement as Rin's words trailed off in sync with his drooping lids. Haruka had seen this before, after all: the times when Ren or Ran had fallen asleep literally mid-sentence, mind switching off at the sudden warmth of Makoto's arms.

"...Don't look so smug," Rin managed with the last of his ability, but the hand he reached out to punch at Haruka's shoulder faltered halfway.

Haruka grabbed that hand before it fell, of course. As he laid it down next to a swirly lock of hair, it was joined by the silence of Rin drifting off to sleep.

For minutes, all Haruka could do was sit bathed in that silence, taking in the sound of Rin's heavy breathing. Lightly, he tried lifting his hand, but only ended up touching the tips of that red hair.

...Looking back, maybe telling Rin about his past hadn't been the only mistake Haruka had made. Because there was a softness here, anchoring Haruka to that memory through the unexpected comfort of Rin's presence alone, and in a world of loss and unpredictability this ought to have been a definite warning sign.

He let his fingertips trail down another swirl of hair, on purpose this time.

Still, the familiar wave of guardedness never came.

 

 

 

With commendable precision, an internal clock somewhere within Rin woke him up in exactly four and a half hours. His eyes simply flicked open, brushing off any remnant of sleep with all the experience of someone who had trained himself to assess his surroundings without delay. Even so, the tiniest hint of bewilderment clung to Rin's expression as he sat upright, like stifling a sound at the back of his throat when his eyes met Haruka's in the dark.

"..I'll take over for now," was all Rin said, barely a whisper, and Haruka returned it with a nod.

When he shifted on the floor, a tiniest shiver shot through even the well-insulated wetsuit. Concrete floors often came infused with years' worth of bone-chilling bite, but Haruka was hardly a stranger to rough sleeping conditions himself. Rin's warmth must have thrown off the distribution in his body temperature, briefly making Haruka frown.

"Oh come on," came the part-sigh, part-groan, right before Haruka felt an arm wrapping around his shoulder. As it yanked him in, Haruka's chin nearly hit Rin's cheek before landing in the nook of his neck.

"It's probably not as comfortable this way," Haruka remembered Rin saying; remembered the way their backs leaned against the wall, and that there was a scent amidst the salt of the ocean clinging to Rin's skin that made Haruka think of lilacs. "But at least you'll..."

_At least I'll what_ , Haruka wanted to say, but all he could remember from then on out was the lightness of sleep.

Somewhere in the recesses of that lightness he eventually caught a glimpse of a shadow, like something hesitantly hovering near the side of his face. When he tried to open his eyes, that shadow quickly vanished, and what greeted Haruka instead was a pale morning still draped in dusk.

"...Hey," he heard Rin breathe out, and in that slow pull back to reality, Haruka wanted to stay in that sound, in that warmth, once more reminding him of home. But like all things in this world, at the back of his mind he knew it was fleeting, and bound to dissolve the second Rin withdrew his arm.

"We should head out," Rin went on, and for a second Haruka could have sworn he detected something reluctant in his tone.

Or maybe he imagined it, as it was Rin who reached out first, stretching out his limbs while fixing his gaze on the view that spread out from the nearest window. In the dead hours of the morning it was hard to imagine life beyond the endless blue, but Haruka knew the two of them still had a long stretch ahead.

"Is the signal still on?" he asked, and with a quick flick, Rin tossed him the Revice. It didn't seem like Rei's position had changed, which initially struck Haruka as a relief, then made him scrunch up his face in suspicion.

"He should have moved," Rin confirmed his doubts without even looking at Haruka, as if he had come to the same conclusion while keeping watch. "There's no reason he would remain in the exact same location for an entire day, unless..."

Haruka shook his head. "That doesn't mean he's––"

"I didn't imply he was dead," Rin cut him off, as if the thought of running a futile errand was not one he wanted to dwell on even in theory, "...What I mean is that there's a great chance he didn't only get washed up in enemy territory, but is actually being held captive."

"Why?" Haruka asked, as futile as it was to seek such answers from Rin; sure enough, the only response was a nod towards the device in Haruka's hand.

"Probably for the same reason my Captain is interested in this guy," Rin said, then let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "But if that _is_ the case, that means things are about to get a lot more complicated than I thought."

"And?" Haruka couldn't help the mild bite in his tone, because he could see the doubt in Rin's eye when he glanced over.

"And nothing," Rin replied, placing his palms on the broken window frame. He paused, then added, "...All I'm saying is, it's not too late for you to go back."

_Not too late to turn around, and return to the people you'd truly want to risk your life for_ ; these were all words Rin failed to say aloud, but Haruka could read them in the tone of his voice, the hunched posture of his shoulders when he reached through the window to give their surroundings a look.

Haruka averted his gaze.

It was true he had joined this mission on the assumption they'd only have to swim. Breaching enemy lines was one thing, but to actually run crash course with another gang... Haruka had spent the past years stretching the line between jeopardy and shelter, but Rin was right: he _was_ a newcomer, to this entire lifestyle that people like Rin and Sousuke had grown up to embrace.

Besides, Haruka already had his own life, didn't he? One that included not only Makoto, but the comfort of predictability, of the calm, tamed waters. It was Rin who had come and disrupted that existence, pulled him far beneath the waves and shown him the world that existed beyond his reach, but it didn't mean that world was his to share.

...So why, exactly, had he volunteered in the first place?

"I wouldn't have come this far if I didn't want to go with you."

There was a definite twitch in Rin's back, a quick, genuinely unguarded look on his face when he held Haruka's stare. Perhaps it paralleled Haruka's stern response, so unabashed it almost came out as angry.

Maybe he was angry – at Rin doubting his conviction, at Haruka doubting himself. Because a part of him _didn't_ want this, had no inclination to subject himself to the hardship of what the rest of their mission might entail, and he knew Rin would never judge him for it. But the other part of Haruka, who had spoken in earnest on that day at the rooftop, it had never stopped aching to live and breathe _more than this_ , if only while Rin was here.

Didn't he owe it to himself to find out what that meant, too?

"...Are you sure?" Rin hazarded, clearly lost whether Haruka's sudden annoyance was directed at him or not, "There's not a whole lot of room for mistakes where we're headed."

The sheer obliviousness of Rin's sentiment almost made Haruka want to laugh.

Because what Rin might not have realized was that _everything_ about him was a mistake – yet the funniest thing about all of this, as Haruka had come to begrudgingly admit to himself over the past two days, was that he didn’t necessarily care.

"We should go," Haruka said, crossing over to where Rin was waiting, and brushed past him with nearly liberating disregard.

_Yes_ , he couldn't help thinking once the water hit his body, like a welcome clarity at long last.

All of this was _definitely_ a mistake, and he definitely didn’t care.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Sousuke POV. Sousuke Sousuke Sousuke Sousuke ~~sorry i've just been looking forward to this, a LOT~~


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Two chapters a day! 'Cause I can!

 

 

"I had a feeling I'd find you here."

The look Gou cast him when Sousuke entered the communications room was soft, if not also weary around the eyes. Hair down and arms resting on the squat table, any other visitor might have mistaken her posture for sleep; Sousuke, however, knew there was a far greater chance Gou hadn't slept more than a few aberrant hours all night.

"You worry too much," he murmured, lightly brushing the blinking navigator off her hands as he seated himself by her side. "This isn't the first time your idiot brother has gone on a mission without you."

"And yet, you're here too at the crack of dawn," Gou smiled, drawing in a deep breath that turned into a yawn.

The smile, the yawn; both were contagious. "Touché."

"Didn't the Captain already leave?" Gou sounded tired, but the sharpness of her voice still meant business. "I should make rounds soon. I want to talk to that Nitori kid again, and I think Nagisa-kun said..."

"I know the Captain left you in charge of this place, but he left me in charge of _you_ ," Sousuke groaned, reaching out one hand to ruffle at her hair, "Stop overworking yourself. Look, I can stay here and watch over Rin's progress while you catch some sleep. Then we can interview the outsiders together."

"But––" Gou expectedly began to protest, but Sousuke's arm snaked around her neck and caught her in a playful lock.

"No Buts. Haven't you learnt by now that I take my Matsuoka babysitting profession very seriously?"

Gou's laughter signaled her concession like it had done a hundred times before. She and Rin had always shared that laughter, and it was a sound that grounded Sousuke to reality, whether he'd ever directly admit it or not. Unfortunately, the scene was soon cut short by a soft thud at the door.

"...Oh, sorry. I can come back at a better time."

There was mild confusion on Tachibana's face as he stood at the entrance; not for any specific misunderstanding, rather than the fact that there was still laughter to be found in these halls. He must not have wanted to interrupt Gou and Sousuke's temporary happiness, a thought so polite yet also self-deprecating that it briefly took Sousuke aback.

"It's fine," Gou was the first to react, shrugging off Sousuke's arm and pushing back to her feet, "...You're here to check on Nanase-san, right? Well, you're in luck: the Powers That Be just ordered me to take a quick nap, so you can take my place."

The playfulness of her voice was at odd contrast with the hesitancy at which Tachibana followed her lead. When he knelt down adjacent to Sousuke, an odd silence fell in the room as soon as Gou's happy-go-lucky spirit left through the door.

"...Here," Sousuke finally said, handing over the navigator. "You can take a look at where they are now. The signal isn't perfect so it works with slight delay, but it'll still give you an idea of where they're headed."

Tachibana nodded. The way his eyes fell on the device felt as though he couldn't specifically tell what he was supposed to be looking at, but the mere fact that the blinking dot existed on the radar seemed to relieve him all the same. It came across as–– naïve, almost, in a way that scrunched up the side of Sousuke's mouth.

But then, did greater awareness of the situation mean he or Gou could do anything other than stare at that dot, either? He narrowed his eyes, something about this parallel with Tachibana suddenly striking a helpless nerve.

"...Yamazaki-san," Tachibana began once he placed the navigator back on the table, "...I hope both you and Gou-san know how very––"

"Okay, no," Sousuke interrupted him before Tachibana could continue. It was an unexpected reflex, but something about the prospect of letting Tachibana finish such a predictable line made it impossible for Sousuke not to cut in.

"First off, you don't owe me any thanks, because I'm only doing my job. Secondly, do you have some kind of supply of randomly generated gratitude? 'Cos I could swear the only words I've heard coming out of your mouth either include _sorry_ or _thank you_ , and I could really do without either right now."

Tachibana's eyes widened slightly, in that exact way Sousuke recognized in people he'd snapped at over the years. There had been a time he had bothered tempering his attitude out of social courtesy, but the longer this nonsensical world had diluted his optimism, the faster Sousuke had accepted there simply was no point.

There may have been surprise and even shock in Tachibana's eyes, though, but the offense Sousuke had prepared for never entered his gaze.

"I..." Tachibana began, two syllables away from apologizing before he caught himself. "...I understand."

As solemn as Tachibana sounded, such direct acceptance only served to annoy Sousuke more. Having spent his whole life arguing with Gou and Rin, it was suspicious to come across people who did not rise up to defend themselves; hell, even Nanase had countered with cold defiance when Sousuke had confronted him the day before.

_Don't get in Rin's way. If your inexperience causes him any trouble, I'll personally drag you into the Mariana Trench._

It hadn't been a threat, so much as a simple fact. To Nanase's credit, his rebellion had come in a single, icy glare that mirrored Sousuke's own distrust. That was something Sousuke could work with, and in a funny kind of way, even respected. So how was someone like Tachibana even friends with Nanase, if all he ever did was fold at the first sign of strife?

"...However, I could also do without you taking your personal frustrations out on me, Yamazaki-san."

Tachibana's voice was still calm, but its firmness caught Sousuke blindsided.

"All of us are worried," Tachibana went on, lowering his eyes back on the navigator, "And I understand that you, Gou-san and Rin-san are a family. But I have family out there too. I'm very sorry if the way I personally deal with that concern annoys you, but I'd like it if you kept it to yourself at least until Haru and Rin-san get back safely."

A small smile hovered on his lips, and the look he cast Sousuke was almost infuriatingly gentle. "If that is alright with you, of course."

Was that sarcasm? With an incredulous frown, Sousuke opened his mouth to respond, then went silent.

"...Sorry," he finally muttered, because it seemed like the only thing he could say. Little need as he had for sparing anyone's feelings, he could not argue with Tachibana's logic, nor rebuke it simply out of pride.

Again, Tachibana merely nodded, but there was something more sincere to his smile. "It's alright. I know you never asked for all this trouble, any more than we hoped to cause it. But Haru never would have left with Rin-san if he didn't intend to do his everything to fix it."

Sousuke made a sound in his throat that might have been dismissal. The truth of the matter was that he didn't know if Tachibana was simply overly optimistic: whatever Nanase _intended_ did not matter crap if he couldn't match Rin's skill and commitment. How could Sousuke not feel cynical at having to trust Rin's fate in those kind of hands?

"...I supposed you'd rather be out there yourself," Tachibana said, still not holding Sousuke's gaze. "...Gou-san told me about the Sea Disease."

Whether he noticed the way Sousuke's body tensed, Tachibana did not let it deter him as he continued to speak: "This is why I don't mind your resentment. It's... never easy, knowing there are some things you simply cannot do for the people you care about the most."

"And what exactly," Sousuke finally replied, unable to stifle the intuitive venom, "Would you know that _that_?"

To his surprise, this time Tachibana lifted his entire head to meet Sousuke's stare. Pushing back his shoulders, Tachibana seemed to come alive in a way that Sousuke hadn't prepared for, like every ounce of apologetic meekness vanished off his frame.

"Yes," Tachibana said silently, "What _would_ I know?"

It wasn't a question, and Sousuke knew; blindsided for the second time this morning, he might not have ever had a response to give to such a blatant claim, if the navigator in Tachibana's hands hadn't chosen that exact moment to cut off.

"...Wait," Sousuke breathed instead, reaching towards Tachibana in spite of their unspoken dispute. "Where the hell did the signal go?"

Blinking, Tachibana looked just as thrown off balance by the sudden turn of events. "...Is it malfunctioning?"

Grabbing the device off his hands, Sousuke shook the navigator about a little, but the little dot on the map never returned. "Fuck, don't tell me..."

Reaching to his feet, he swore a couple more times as if something this could have brought the signal back to life. Logically, Sousuke knew there was no reason to panic; the satellites were old and unreliable to begin with, so there was a great chance their connection had simply short-circuited at an inconvenient time. And yet...

"I have to talk to Gou," he breathed out, glancing back at Tachibana who had returned to his regular, hesitant self, "You stay here and watch if the signal comes back, and let me know immediately if––"

Sousuke nearly swallowed his tongue when an unannounced tremor made him lose his footing. He probably would have bashed his knee right through the table if Tachibana hadn't grabbed his arm, struggling to retain balance as the room stopped shaking.

"Was that––" Tachibana began with shock dawning on his face, and Sousuke didn't blame his mind for jumping to conclusions in the wake of everything that had recently taken place. But this was a tremor Sousuke recognized far better than Tachibana did, because it was one that had absolutely nothing to do with forces of nature.

"That wasn't an earthquake," Sousuke choked out, and swiftly reversed Tachibana's grip to drag them both towards the exit.

"That was a fucking _explosion_."

 

 

 

How could he have been so _stupid_?

The second tremor no longer caught Sousuke by surprise, because every nerve in his body had prepared to expect it. It came less than five minutes after the alarm started blaring down the halls, disjointed and delayed like someone had tried tampering it with to varying success.

Mikoshiba in Shinagawa. Rin in Akihabara. Gou in Shinjuku.

Leaving their headquarters so vulnerable to ambush had always been a gamble, but Sousuke had never expected the enemy to seize that opportunity so quick. Which, realistically speaking, could only mean one thing.

"There has to be a spy!" he shouted at Tachibana, dashing down the corridor towards the sleeping quarters; he had to get to Gou as soon as possible, because if the enemy had infiltrated their team, he couldn't risk anyone getting to her first. "Find your siblings and lay low, alright?! And don't trust anyone that isn't me or Gou!"

He didn't have time to worry whether Tachibana could follow orders or not. If he had any sense in that gentle head of his, Tachibana would keep out of sight until Sousuke and Gou got the attack under control. It wasn't the first time they'd been ambushed by far, but without Mikoshiba and Rin they were at clear strategic disadvantage. And if the spy knew of one disadvantage, then chances were they also knew...

The reality of his injured shoulder hit Sousuke around the time he passed another corner, suddenly registering two seconds between a shadow in his blind spot and an incoming, searing pain.

The blow never fully landed, though. In its stead, there was a loud _thud_ and a _crack_ where the person behind him slammed their head against the nearest wall; whirling around, Sousuke caught glimpse of red hair before it vanished around the corner and after Tachibana.

Well, in a sense that made things easier: he didn't need to find Gou, because Gou had found him first.

Whatever mild damage his shoulder had suffered disappeared as quickly as it came, taking in the scene that unfolded in the corridor ahead: the grace of Gou's form still left him speechless, watching her dart down the path towards the two strangers who had mistaken Tachibana for a Samezuka member. Not that they ever realized their error, really; Tachibana's head craned around just in time to catch Gou scaling the wall before spinning her legs around the neck of one man and driving her elbow right into the skull of the other.

The sound of their shattering bones must have made Tachibana feel sick, but he admirably held his nerve. Most people Sousuke had met wasted precious time struggling to connect the Gou they knew outside combat with the one capable of killing in cold blood, but when the enemy toppled lifelessly at Gou's feet, Tachibana never once took his eyes off her.

"...That's the second time you've saved me," was all he said, which must have been unexpected to Gou, too; glancing over her shoulder, she met Sousuke's gaze, and a flicker of relief passed her face.

"We don't have much time," she said, hardening her expression as quickly as it had grown soft, "We have to locate the number of intruders and make sure the civilians are safe. Moreover, we have to make sure the headquarters are fortified against further attacks – if there's damage to the structure, we have to take care of that first. Sousuke-kun, can you try and find out where the explosion came from?"

Sousuke nodded, and Gou turned to Tachibana.

"I know I have no right to ask this of you," she sighed, obvious apology in her otherwise firm tone, "But it seems like we have a spy in our midst, and there's not a whole lot of people I can trust right now. Tachibana-san, could you please look after the civilians for me? I noticed a distinct lack of armed intruders so far, which might mean the ambush was in haste."

As prepared as Sousuke was to hear hesitation in Tachibana's response, what greeted him was a seriousness that matched Gou's own.

"Yes, I understand," Tachibana said, making Sousuke wonder if he was genuinely the same person he had witnessed timidly apologizing to virtually every person in Samezuka.

It wasn't the time or the place to speculate over the fluctuating nature of Tachibana Makoto's proverbial spine, though. Fastening her hair tighter in place, Gou glanced back at Sousuke. "I need to find Momo. He can track down the enemy numbers and smoke out anyone who's in hiding. Please report to me as soon as you've finished estimating the damages. Is that clear?"

"Clear," Sousuke noted, wasting no further breath on their impromptu briefing – until a sudden thought made him glance back at Tachibana one final time.

"By the way, you were right," he said, and the way his mouth twisted had a hint of a smile.

"This _is_ my family. So this time around, you can help make sure nobody fucks with mine." 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things happen.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's roughly four to five chapters of this thing left, so I'm trying to pick up the pace and finish them soon. Given how short these chapters are, it shouldn't be that big of a mission. Still, work is kicking my ass again, so I'll do what I can.

 

 

Sometimes, Rin hated being right.

Crossing from Iidabashi to Akihabara did not take long. He felt strangely rejuvenated in the water, his spirit mirrored in the way Haruka darted past below whenever they came across schools of unusual fish; the air in his lungs felt crisp, the dawn pale but soft, making it far too easy to forget himself in that no-man's land.

Thinking of it that way, it felt to Rin like a set of truths to take his mind off another, less comforting one: even by the time the outskirts of Akihabara finally came in view in the distance, Rei's location still had not budged.

Haruka's resolve hadn't budged either, though. Well, resolve or stubbornness – one way or the other, it was pointless to try and argue the reality of their situation, because Haruka didn’t seem like the type of person who made decisions like this on impulse.

“This would be a lot easier if we had the navigator’s interface,” Rin muttered, pulling up on a ledge by the side of the next suitable building. The route from here to Electric Town was straightforward, but the closer they got, the harder it was to pinpoint the exact location of Rei’s signal. “The last I came here, all the towers looked identical. All we could be getting is a rough estimate in the radius of about three or four different buildings.”

“That’s alright.” Haruka sounded calm, not even bothering to fully emerge from the water. “I’ll know to look for the inhabited ones.”

Frowning, Rin almost uttered the obvious question _How?_ before he caught on. Of course, Haruka had spent the past who knows how many years scavenging in Shibuya – learning to pinpoint rudimentary signs of life was a basic necessity for someone like him.

Perceptiveness wasn’t the only skill Haruka had cultivated through scavenging, though. As much as Rin had mocked him for that very lifestyle before, what it had also given Haruka was a sharp sense of stealth, like a mechanism Rin could see switch on in Haruka’s head as the distance between them and the signal began to close

The crispness Rin had felt in the air eventually muted into an eerie silence. Once upon a time, they would have been entering one of the liveliest, busiest parts of Tokyo, but their welcome was as desolate as the rest of the city. Not that Rin had been anticipating a parade; chances were the enemy did not wish to draw any more attention to their base than Samezuka’s sunken headquarters in Shinjuku did.

Still, that silence was unnerving enough to make Rin flinch when he felt Haruka’s hand brush his arm. “Wait here. I need to climb a little higher to check something before we go on.”

Without further explanation, Haruka drew in a deep breath and plunged underwater. Had Rin not actually witnessed him dive, it would have been impossible to tell there was a person until Haruka’s head once more emerged by a high rise across the street. Another quick fire-ladder climb later, Haruka returned with a swiftness brazen enough to put most of Rin’s teammates to shame.

“It’s the one on far left. There’s a hatch on the side of that building that looks like a disposal shaft, and it’s attracted a school of surface scavengers. It’s unusual there’s no birds preying on the fish, though.”

“You think that means someone’s passed through here recently?” Rin asked, trying to keep his expression from revealing just how impressed he felt at Haruka’s insight. “Because this place feels… I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like everything’s right, it’s too quiet compared to the last time I passed through.”

Haruka shrugged. “It’s possible. But the less people we have to look out for, the easier it will be to get in.”

“Yeah,” Rin agreed, pulling up the device to re-check Rei’s signal one final time before they finalized their next move. “That’s…. Wait, _what_?”

“Did it change location?” Haruka asked, a trace of confusion finally entering his voice. Momentarily at loss for words, all Rin could do was shake his head, a hundred thoughts criss-crossing in his head as he stared at the blank screen of the device.

“No, it…” he finally managed, flipping it over so Haruka could see for himself.

“It disappeared completely.”

 

 

 

Normally, a curveball of this sort would have made Rin call back the original plan, regroup and figure out a new one. However, a situation like that would have relied on a set plan to begin with; whether it was because this whole mission had been an improvised mess since the start, or because Haruka’s straightforwardness was starting to rub off on him, Rin found it unexpectedly easy to reconfigure the situation on the fly.

“There’s no time to investigate what happened to the signal, and inside the tower it would have been useless anyway. The only thing left now is just to press on without.”

Haruka nodded. Although his thoughts must have shot back to Shinjuku as much as Rin instinctively thought of his sister and Sousuke, last night in Iidabashi both of them had resigned to wordless empathy over things they could simply no longer control.

Even so, Rin couldn’t help that empathy flowing out of his touch when he lightly nudged at Haruka’s shoulder.

“Let’s go, Haru. We’ve got a mad scientist to save.”

The disposal shaft Haruka had mentioned was easy enough to find. It must have been installed post-submerge, because the workmanship was shoddy rather than ravaged by time. Now, had it actually been large enough to accommodate a person, and Rin really could have called this the easiest infiltration in the universe.

This time, Haruka gave him no warning before diving underwater. Scaling the wall underneath them, when he got back up for air Haruka’s face was pensive. “I have an idea. But it might potentially get us both killed.”

“Are there any other kinds of ideas?” Rin sighed, then nodded at Haruka to continue.

“People often think the easiest way to get into a building undetected is to swim through the ventilation shafts,” Haruka started, “But the reality is that most of them have caved in or filled with debris, so you’d just drown. Besides, a place like this would have most definitely sealed all the exits, just to keep any potential intruders out.”

He paused, a small frown of concentration on his brow. “Vertical shafts are different, though. They’re less likely to be blocked all the way up, but also risky since you never really know how high they run. Their location always depends on the ventilation unit itself, but…”

“Would these help?”

A flicker of surprise passed Haruka’s face when he recognized the square items in Rin’s hand – a pair of ventilators which most definitely had not been part of Gou’s briefing prior to their departure.

“You took those without permission?” Haruka asked, which sounded almost ironic coming from someone like him. It made Rin shoot him a Look before shaking his head.

“Technically, all I did was never return them,” he said, “I didn’t think we’d have to infiltrate an enemy building, but since your friend isn’t such a good swimmer, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to bring them along.”

Haruka gave him an appreciative nod, then turned to glance at the disposal shaft that had attracted his attention in the first place.

“If I had to guess, I’d say whoever constructed that wouldn’t have risked making a direct entrance to the floors above. Chances are they accessed it through a vertical shaft, which means there’s probably one close by.”

“So you’re saying we could enter through the same one,” Rin finished for him, touching the side of the building with his other hand. “You don’t think Gou gave us anything to drill through concrete with, huh?”

Haruka shook his head. “I found a panel below that looks like it connects with the ventilation system. Your sister did give me a couple of tools I can use to loosen the hatch, and I’ve broken locks with less before.”

The explanation was calm, but even Haruka’s stoicism could not hide a sudden spark that entered his expression. Feeling his own mouth twist into a grin, Rin couldn’t help letting out a little laugh.

“Hey, look at you. For someone supposedly so uninterested in this kind of stuff, you sure seem pretty fired up.”

“Not really,” Haruka muttered, but there wasn’t a whole lot of heart in that refusal, and in that second Rin could have sworn one of the surrounding waves flowed right through his skin.

“Well, I guess it’s settled then,” he hastily countered, as if to force that unexpected feeling down. “We’re taking your route in.”

At the matter-of-factness of his tone, Haruka looked oddly perplexed.

“You’d have to trust my lead,” Haruka said after a brief pause, and there was no need to utter the rest of his sentence aloud. For all of this newfound dedication, it was still a risky attempt; there might still be rubble, and a single collapsing structure underwater might trap them for good.

Still, irreversible as the consequences might be, Rin barely missed a beat finding his response.

“I trust you.”

It made another twitch tug at Haruka’s brow, but not in concern.

No, between seeking out Rin’s eyes and glancing away, Rin could tell Haruka was smiling; it made that wave of warmth flow from his skin to his chest, leaving Rin wondering if it was really the fault of the water after all.

 

 

 

Trusting Haruka did, as it happened, turn out to be the right choice: no lock or claustrophobic maze could deter Haruka once the ventilator on his neck rendered him one with the water again. As he wordlessly nudged Rin along, the dive into the darkness was frightening and exciting all at once in ways Rin hadn’t felt in years.

Haruka had been right, too. The shaft connecting with the vertical one was located near the side of the building, allowing them to avoid treading too far in. Rin initially made the mistake of banging a shoulder against the narrow walls once upright, which made Haruka’s head snap down; even in the dim light, Rin understood his sharp gestures meant any excess vibration might send pieces of wreckage raining down.

Other than that, complete silence enveloped the rest of their journey. The lighter the water became, the closer they got to the surface, until Haruka came to an abrupt stop and the soles of his feet smacked Rin flat on the head.

Bits of small rubble shot into the water where Rin instinctively bumped into the walls again, but Haruka remained still. Slowly leaning to the side, he allowed Rin a glimpse above: they may have reached water level, but the shaft itself continued higher than Haruka’s arms alone could reach.

The glance Haruka shot down was once more clear in its intent. If Rin was going to boost him, it relied on there being enough water pressure to allow for support; the rooms around them might not be flooded, which meant their combined weight might simply end up breaking the entire shaft.

What choice did they have, though? With a nod, Rin signalled this back at Haruka, leaning back as firmly yet carefully as he possibly could. As determination set back in Haruka’s shoulders, it was a strangely synchronized effort even for something neither one of them had done before – like reading the quick shifts of Haruka’s body where he took a deep breath, pushed upwards, and relied on Rin’s strength to close the distance.

Whatever racket this sudden sprint caused was second in importance to the fact that Rin didn’t discover the walls of the shaft caving in around him. Instead, he heard Haruka’s fingers grab the ledge, pulling himself up with catlike grace. How many buildings he must have entered like this, Rin could only guess; personally, he had always left stuff like this to Gou, whose narrow figure was far more suited to slinking in the shadows.

He watched Haruka disappear through the opening, but it didn’t take him long to re-emerge. It might have been possible for him to pull Rin up even without the cord fastened to the ventilation unit in the adjacent room, but it was clear Haruka was reluctant to take any unnecessary risks to get Rin’s feet safely back on concrete floor.

“…Knew someone… used it,” Haruka coughed, adjusting to the post-paralysis on his vocal cords once he removed the chip on his neck. He beckoned at the supplies in the ventilation room, indicating it was far from abandoned. “Should… hurry. Find Rei.”

“Since the signal before was pretty strong, that ought to help narrow down his location,” Rin agreed, “They’d have to be keeping him in one of the floors above water, rather than in an airlock somewhere. Splitting up might save time, so––“

“ _No_ ,” Haruka’s response came with an almost alarming speed, catching Rin off guard. Equally taken aback by his own burst of emotion, Haruka averted his eyes.

“…Even if I… found Rei, what would we do if… we run into someone? I’m not… like you.”

_Aren’t you?_ Rin nearly found himself blurting out, but it wasn’t as though he didn’t understand. Haruka might have gotten this far on natural talent alone, but having built his life around _not_ running into other people, the thought of landing cold in the middle of everything must have made him panic.

“H, hey. Haru. I’m not going anywhere.”

Lately, the slightest sign of Haruka’s anxiety seemed to trigger something in Rin, like an instinct set on pulling him to the other side. He couldn’t really explain it, but there was something about Haruka that always revitalized and reassured him all at once – as though their moods had the ability to work on a synchronicity equal to their minds.

The reassurance in his voice made something unreadable pass on Haruka’s face, but for once it did not turn Rin into an embarrassed mess.

“You got us in, right?” Rin said, taking two steps towards the door that stood between them and the rest of the enemy base. “Now it’s my turn to take care of the rest.”

On a complete whim, Rin held out his hand, knowing there was no way Haruka would miss the deliberate throw-back in his following words.

“Well, as long as you trust my lead.”

Both of them knew it was no longer a question, because the chance to turn back had long since come and gone. All that remained now was Haruka’s willingness to open his eyes, swallow his fear, and like on that day in Harajuku, let Rin show him everything Haruka had convinced himself he couldn’t do.

Perhaps, this was why a moment’s hesitation held Haruka’s response. 

Still, the fingers that eventually fastened around Rin’s were firm; and as their warmth made that familiar wave wash right over his chest and settle in his heart, Rin knew without doubt that it definitely, absolutely had nothing to do with water.

Shit, sometimes he _really_ hated being right.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upon being consulted about ventilation and buildings, my HVAC engineer-to-be brother gave a brief overview and then said, "just do whatever, no story is ever realistic on that front anyway." So I did.
> 
> (He also correctly guessed he was being consulted "for your swimming crap again". Uh.)
> 
> Anyway, next time: Gou POV, freaking finally.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that chapter count should be final. Fingers crossed.

 

 

For as long as she could remember, the three of them had always been together.

Rin used to laugh this was because Gou was too young to properly remember a time before the Submerge, which she always countered by pointing out she was only a year his junior. He’d scrunch up his nose, she’d stick out her tongue, and somewhere nearby Sousuke would sigh and proclaim, _A stubborn idiot is just what I needed, so why was I cursed with two?_

Being childhood friends, it was natural they had stuck together after the catastrophe. As the years rolled by, survival and raw skill had honed their little team to perfection, where each person balanced the others out. It wasn’t much of a surprise, then, that Captain Mikoshiba had been so quick to track Rin down the moment he caught wind of the three of them in Tokyo.

Running down the corridor of their ambushed base several years later, Gou couldn’t help but wonder if the real reason she, Rin and Sousuke had trained so hard together was because somewhere deep down they had always known one day they’d be forced to work apart.

“The estimate, Momo?!”

Gou had recognized the soft thud of footsteps the second they aligned with hers. There were times she cursed the pathways zig-zagging across the walls of Samezuka, because Momo had a bad habit for using them to avoid work rather than practice espionage; right now, though, she couldn’t have thanked the Captain enough for agreeing to having them built.

“Eight in total. Gou-chan took out three.” Momo’s voice came rapid and clear through the wall, keeping up with her pace. “Two came through the east wing. One was headed for the communications room. The location of the other two is unknown.”

“That’s a lot less than I thought,” Gou muttered, then raised her voice, “And their identity?”

“No colours, no trademark weapons, currently anonymous.”

A small-scale, unclaimed attack? Something about all of this sounded… off.

“And the team?” Gou called out, rewinding the standard protocol in her head; the Captain always left them with a pre-emptive plan of action should the headquarters be compromised while he was away, so right about now most of them should be…

“Niichan’s original safety measures are in effect! The team has begun to evacuate.”

Momo’s response almost made Gou miss a beat for the first time this morning.

“Evacuate?!” she repeated, “But they’re not supposed to evacuate unless––“

“Unless the entire base is beyond saving, yeah, but all I hear is the explosion got through the second layer of the generator room.”

The more information she received, the less sense it all made. Their attackers were few in number, but had also targeted a part of their base someone must have weakened in advance. Still, building their headquarters underwater had always relied on extreme fortification and loyalty – even if the generators flooded, securing the damages should have taken top priority over an evacuation plan like protocol D.

_Unless…_

Swallowing, Gou banged on the wall to indicate she would turn left at the next corner. 

“Change of order, Momo,” Gou hastily ordered, trying to squash down the sudden, ominous dread this thought brought in its wake. “Go to Shinagawa. Locate the Captain. As long as the enemy is anonymous, he might be in danger too. Dismissed!”

“I’m on it, Gou-chan!” she could hear Momo’s voice quip before it dulled and disappeared.

That dread entered her fingertips anew like a prickling sensation once the building shook again, one and a half minutes away from where she knew Sousuke would wait.

Most teams simply couldn’t afford to waste energy on recharging devices like outdated communicators, so she, Sousuke and Rin had long since come up with an alternate method: knowing how much time it took to dart between different parts of the base, if any one of them failed to show up at a designated meeting point within that timeframe, they would know the others had been compromised.

Her relief was thus palpable once Sousuke’s head snapped around to face her the second she cut down the corner.

“What’s the situation?” she called out, watching his entire frame straighten up.

“The second explosion came from the East wing. From the impact, it doesn’t sound like it got through the first layer.” In spite of the seemingly positive news, Sousuke’s face remained grim. “But right now, we’ve got a bigger problem.”

“We’ve got a bigger _rat_ ,” Gou hissed, catching up to him. Checking her watch, it confirmed her suspicions. “According to Momo, most of the team has already evacuated. For them to switch to protocol D even before I was given a damage report means more than one person knew it was coming.”

“Which means there’s more than one spy,” Sousuke nodded dryly, but when he spoke anew his tone was sharp. “We have to get _you_ out of here, Gou. You do realize who the enemy is after, right?”

“ _Last person to evacuate is second in command, first in command, Captain_.” She recited the line, adding a mental strike through on the last two. “I know. They’ve cut down our numbers so we cannot fix the layers, and sent just enough intruders to keep us occupied until someone blasts a hole in the structure. They’re trying to drown me.”

“So why the hell are you dawdling around?!” Sousuke snapped, unable to seize the impulse that made him grab her wrist. It was a risky gesture, which spoke volumes of his unease, since there wasn’t a single other person besides him and Rin who could have gotten away with that and lived.

“Because _this is our home_ ,” Gou still couldn’t help flaring up, yanking her arm back. “And right now, I’m responsible for it. You think I’m just going to abandon it the second I’m personally in danger?!”

As if to mirthlessly accentuate her words, the ground beneath them shook again. It was a stronger explosion than the one coming from East wing, and clearly not meant to distract. The way the entire structure around them vibrated meant someone must have chipped away at the layers similar to the initial attack; with virtually no-one around to repair the damages, it wouldn’t be long until the building started to flood.

The reality of this was plain as day on Sousuke’s exasperated face. “ _Gou_. Please. For all we know we might be the last people left. I know I couldn’t get you out by force even if I tried to, but are you honestly telling me you’ll let yourself get killed out of pride?!”

For the first time in years, Gou couldn’t stop the feeling a sting of helplessness. There was no disputing the truth of what Sousuke was saying, but admitting as much made her feel so _humiliated_. In less than an hour, she had gone from Samezuka’s second in command to someone who couldn’t even protect her home.

_You couldn’t do anything._

“Gou-san.”

Her head whipped around at the sound of Tachibana’s voice so fast it almost made a _crack_.

“Why are you still here?!” Gou called out, a combination of concern mixed with joy washing over as she watched him cross down the hall. “Did you get everyone? Are they safe?”

Tachibana nodded. He paused for a moment, then looked at Gou as fearlessly as he had done after she’d killed a man only inches away from his face. It was a strange feeling; she couldn’t count the times people had changed their entire behaviour around her once witnessing her true nature, but since the moment Tachibana had opened his eyes in her room, all he’d ever gazed at her with was respect.

“Gou-san,” he began, and his soft determination made her shoulders relax. “The first time you saved my life, it was because I failed to protect _my_ home. You–– you were the one who told me it wasn’t my fault, but it was also you who inspired me to try harder if something like that ever happened again. So I could protect the people important to me, like you do.”

Fearless or not, a twinge of sheepishness made him glance away before he faced her again with a hopeful smile.

“So please. This time, let me help protect you, too.”

 

 

 

“Gou-chaaann!!”

Had she not ordered him to go to Shinagawa, Gou might have expected Momo’s head bouncing up from the side of the vessel. What greeted her, though, was an enthusiastic Nagisa; even as the vibrations of the water made him sway almost sideways on the deck, he reached out to pull her in.

“I knew it! I knew that if anyone, Mako-chan would get you to come! Ren-chan and Ran-chan were worried sick, you know!”

“I thought this thing would take days to get seaworthy,” Sousuke commented, shielding himself from the light rain as the rest of them boarded the previously marooned ship. “I saw the hull. It was bust, and the electronics were barely working.“

“Nagisa-kun and I’ve been working on the ship since Matsuoka-san and Nanase-san left,” Nitori said, stepping out to unfasten the bindings together with Nagisa, “It still needs a lot of work, but at the very least it should stay afloat.”

“Ai-chan was amazing!” Nagisa quipped over his shoulder, looking like he relished the fluster that spread across Nitori’s face, “He must have slept barely two hours last night, trying to get the reparations done. We wanted to finish as fast as possible so we could go out and help Rei-chan, but even if it’s unfinished we can use it as a base.”

“We’re a little too close to our former headquarters than I’d prefer,” Sousuke said, surveying where their team had previously relocated the shipwreck not to attract further attention, “But I guess it can’t be helped, until the ship is navigable again. It’s not like we can go back.”

At the sound of their discussion, Gou averted her eyes. 

“Gou-san?”

Once more, it was Tachibana’s voice that eased her foul mood. When she looked up, he nodded towards the cabin. “A couple of your members were injured, so we brought them along. I thought you might like to ask them some questions.”

She had seen her teammates hurt in a number of ways over the years, but knowing Toru’s broken bones were her responsibility still made Gou’s heart lurch. His eyes lit up when she entered the cabin, and he let out a laugh hoping to downplay the sling on his arm.

“Sorry, Gou-senpai,” he said sheepishly, “The initial wave took me by surprise. Before I could alert anyone, three people were already in.”

_Well, those people are never coming out_ , Gou thought with the slightest, selfish pleasure; at least she had unknowingly avenged the initial intrusion. Taking a seat between Toru and Shouta, she eyed at the open knee injury that had rendered the latter unable to walk.

“Most of us had already left by that point, though.” The cynicism in Shouta’s voice implied they had already come to the same conclusion as Sousuke and Gou. “Right after the first explosion, people were exaggerating the damage. I’m not sure who started it, but someone said Kazuki got the order for Protocol D directly from you.”

In spite of her resolve to remain calm, Gou felt her teeth grit together. “When’s the last time anyone saw Takuya?”

It was only a hunch, but there was something about a Matsuoka hunch that had the tendency of coming true. Among Samezuka, it wasn’t just her, Sousuke and Rin’s little trio that formed a mini-family; Kazuki and Takuya were rarely seen without one another, and for Shouta to throw shade on one meant Gou automatically suspected the other too.

“He hasn’t been around much,” Toru confirmed, “The last I saw him was before this ship crashed near the base, but I just thought it was because his gear got stolen.”

“It was just a watch," Shouta groaned, and Gou could have sworn a tiny _ping_ went off on her radar – a recollection of something Rin had told her, back when Nanase and the others washed up at their headquarters.

“How _convenient_.”

From her peripheral vision, Gou saw a person move at the door. 

“Nanase steals Takuya's watch," Sousuke muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose like all of this was beginning to come together in a game of tumbling, infuriating dominos. "Takuya tells Rin, Rin ends up in Shibuya. This Ryuugazaki kid goes missing, Rin goes to Akihabara, and the next thing we know someone's trying to take you out."

“Sousuke-kun?” Gou said, but her voice sounded more like a warning. Even in the shadows cast by the low cabin light, she could tell exactly what his pensive face was thinking.

“Look, Gou, I don’t care if the spy is Nanase, Takuya, or both,” he said dryly, “All that matters is that the Akiba gang is clearly behind all this, which means we’ve essentially sent Rin right into a trap.”

Whether it was her personal refusal to believe Nanase was to blame, or because the story had too many coincidences even without his involvement, Gou frowned. “Are you saying the enemy somehow predicted the earthquake? Or that oniichan volunteered to leave?”

Sousuke shook his head. “This whole attack seemed rushed to me. Like someone saw an opening and seized it. Parts of the structure were obviously destroyed well in advance, but if Rin or the Captain had been there to keep the team from scattering apart, a plan this shoddy never would have worked.”

Whether his words were meant as a harsh or simply honest assessment of her authority, it made Gou spring to her feet all the same.

“How dare you––“ she began, but when Sousuke cut her off, it was with an unexpectedly pained look.

“It’s not you, Gou. It’s us.”

When she frowned, he took a deep breath. “The whole team is too dependent on them. The Captain and Rin… if this is what happens when they’re not around, what point is there to have a team? The three of us always worked so well together because there wasn’t one single person everything relied on, but right now it doesn’t feel like that’s how Samezuka works.”

“Sousuke-kun,” Gou couldn’t help but murmur, recognizing the honest disappointment in his voice. He must have felt just as humiliated as her, she realized; Sousuke and Rin had spent the majority of their lives equal to one another in skill, yet he hadn’t been able to do anything to save their home either.

And now neither one of them could help Rin.

“The sooner we strike back, the better,” Sousuke muttered, the shadows on his face highlighting his tensed jaw, “Trying to kill Samezuka’s second in command is a direct declaration of war.”

It sounded simple enough the way Sousuke put it, yet something about all this didn’t sit right with Gou. “Look, I want to get my revenge on them as much as you do, but the Captain set out for Shinagawa precisely in the hopes of a peace treaty, so––“

“So you’d rather wait and risk another attack?! You’re the one who suspected the Captain could be in danger too, and if the enemy has Rin, there’s no knowing if––“

It was at that moment that the door behind Sousuke pulled open, letting in a trickle of light. Tachibana looked cautious when initially peeking in, then entered holding a small bag of supplies.

“…Sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt, but I wanted to change Shouta-san’s bandages.”

Too busy being distraught over the loss of Samezuka, Gou hadn’t even realized Tachibana had taken her orders this close to heart. In addition to getting the civilians and injured to safety, he had gone through all this effort to make sure they were cared after. In the bewildered look Sousuke exchanged with Gou, she could tell he was just as impressed.

“I’ve done this a lot,” Tachibana explained with a tiny laugh, reaching down to touch Shouta’s knee. “You know–– with Haru. He wasn’t always that good at stealing things – well, unnoticed, anyway.”

The fondness in his remark brought a smile on Gou’s face. It made her think of what Tachibana had said about being inspired to try harder for the people important to him, because there was no disguising how much he must have loved Nanase. Different as they all were, it reminded her of the tumultuous relationship between her brother and Sousuke – like a bond sometimes stretched thin by circumstance, yet impossible to snap in half.

_This time, let me protect you, too._

It was what Tachibana had told her too, though; realizing she was now among the people he worked so hard to look after, Gou burst into an abrupt cough.

“Are you alright, Gou-san?” he immediately asked her, a trademark Frown of Concern setting on Tachibana’s brow. “You didn’t get water in your lungs, right?”

“No, I’m–– I’m fine,” Gou wheezed, but that brief physical distraction was more than enough to clear the fog of vengefulness from her mind.

“Tachibana-san,” she began, but a tilt of his head made her pause.

“It’s alright to call me Makoto,” he said, and Gou returned his smile with a nod.

“…Alright. Makoto-san, would you ever retaliate against someone without knowing for certain if they did it? Even if not doing it potentially put the people you cared about in danger?”

Her question must have surprised him, but his response came just as quickly. “I wouldn’t retaliate at all unless it was to put an end to something for good. If there was any chance I was mistaken–– well, risking a cycle of revenge would only put my loved ones in even greater danger.”

The smile on Gou’s face spread wider, and the impish side of her hazarded a triumphant glance at Sousuke.

“Oh, _great_ ,” came the predictable groan, followed by a sigh. “This is just what I needed. Another idealistic idiot.”

His comment earned a Look. “You’re quite welcome to call me Makoto too, you know.”

“Fine,” Sousuke said, countering the remark by folding his arms. “Let me rephrase: This is just what I needed, another idealistic idiot _Makoto_.”

However, beneath the humorous insolence, there was a genuine smile tugging on his lips once Sousuke paused to add,

“So why was I cursed with two?”

It sounded like something Gou could recall from another time, in a place so far from here; and when she glanced at Sousuke, then at Tachibana–– no, _Makoto_ , something about the cramped little cabin of this ship suddenly felt a bit like home.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Did someone say Ryuugazaki?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not long to go now.

 

 

It wasn't until they reached the next corridor that he let go of Rin’s hand.

There wasn't a particular reason, Haruka told himself; all it did was make it easier to stay within a reasonable distance, to mimic Rin’s steps where he surveyed the route before they pressed further on. After all, even if Haruka had more experience as an unwelcome intruder, it was Rin whose reflexes wouldn’t think twice about disarming an actual person.

The floor they entered through the ventilation room was mostly quiet. At one point Rin paused when a set of footsteps echoed down the hall, but they disappeared almost as quickly as they came. Although Rin’s shoulders gradually relaxed, his face remained pensive, as so little surveillance meant whatever was on this floor clearly wasn’t worth protecting.

“It’s too quiet,” he murmured at Haruka over his shoulder, like whatever had kept nagging away at Rin since their arrival refused to die down.

Following those footsteps led to a staircase outside the building, where the cry of returning seagulls echoed the anticipation growing in Haruka’s bones. It wasn’t quite dread, not exactly thrill, but some unnamed emotion that always pounded in his heart after a perfectly timed escape. Only swimming ever made him feel like that, yet when Rin halted by the entrance and pulled him aside, Haruka could have sworn an electric current shot through his wrist.

Signalling for Haruka to stay still, Rin’s expression grew focused. From the faint sounds of conversation trailing down the next hallway, it was clear he was trying to get a rough estimate  based on the voices he could discern.

“I’m guessing three people,” Rin finally whispered. “Maybe four. I need a better visual to make sure, but I’ll have to leave you here for a second.”

The obvious _Are you alright with that?_ on Rin’s face reminded Haruka of Sousuke’s warning. With a curt nod he watched Rin slink inside, but no threats could stop Haruka from craning his head through the doorway after Rin. What he caught was a glimpse of a pathway lined with lockers, then a boy no older than fourteen; with his back to the doorway, that boy never finished pulling something out of his locker when Rin’s arm closed around his shoulders.

_If I wanted you dead, you’d be talking to my sister, not me_ Rin had said Haruka first met him, but no-one could have made Samezuka’s first in command without knowing how to take another person’s life. Haruka had always known this, yet his own relief still surprised him when when the boy only slumped over unconscious in Rin's arms.

Removing his fingers off the pressure points on the kid’s neck, Rin yanked his head back in Haruka’s direction. When Haruka held his gaze without hesitation, something equally relieved passed Rin’s smile before he beckoned at Haruka to follow.

Soundlessly, they proceeded towards the end of the lockers where the earlier voices were now clear around the corner.

“…so bored. You sure the boss really told us to keep watch for this guy? If he was anyone important they’d keep him locked in the main building.“

“I dunno. Tatsu-senpai told me it was–– well, he said they were direct orders from the boss, to make sure someone stays here while she’s in Shinagawa. I guess the reason you and I got babysitting duty is ‘cos we’re still nobodies in Akiba.”

“Shit, then it’s Tatsu-senpai who shoulda done it! I swear he always disappears when anything’s–– wait, speaking of disappearing, what’s taking Yuuki so long? I thought that idiot was just going to grab a snack from his locker.”

“Maybe he fell asleep while walking. He’s your idiot brother, you check on him.”

There were a number of strange things about this conversation, but all Haruka could think of was how similar these people sounded to the members he had met in Samezuka. Not that there was any reason to think there weren’t real people behind every team, but they seemed so _young_. The boy Rin could have easily killed was someone’s brother, the people here only trying to pass the time, and all this–– _espionage_ seemed so absurd to begin with, when all they wanted was to get Rei home.

There was hardly a chance to mull over this, though, once a shuffling sound started drawing closer. In a matter of seconds a boy not much older than the first one turned the corner, and stopped in his tracks to let out a startled cry.

He never got that far. The air left his lungs in a surprised _ngh?_ when a grapple and a throw sent him off the ground. The back of his head hit with the floor hard enough for a blackout, which must have been Rin’s intention yet still made him grimace. It felt like something Haruka really wanted to ask Rin about later, but right now he could only stand back as the sounds of commotion alerted the third person.

The following takedown was just as quick. The third guard wasn’t of age either, and his eyes widened in shock before Rin’s knee caught him in the stomach. A quick heel to the calf made the boy whimper out before his head crashed with the lockers, the sound reverberating all the way down the line like someone slamming a door.

Reaching down to yank a piece of cable tie from the pocket on the side of his thigh, Rin nodded at Haruka to retrieve the youngest boy. Once gagged and bound together the three of them wouldn’t be a great threat, but it wouldn’t be long till they came to and managed to attract unwanted attention.

“We gotta hurry,” Rin muttered pulling Haruka along, but this time his hand was trembling.

Through all this noise, the person held captive had roused behind his door. “Hello? Yuuki-kun? Are you alright? You really don’t need to share your ratios with me, I’m––“

“Rei?” Haruka called out, and the sound of Rei’s voice came to an abrupt halt.

“ _Haruka-senpai?!_ ”

“Touching reunion – now shut up and help me get you out of there,” Rin cut them both short, running his hands along the frame to assess its construction. “Is the door reinforced on the other side?”

On the other side, Rei paused. “Oh. Hoodlum-san.”

Serious as the situation was, Haruka fought to stifle a tiny smile at how Rin’s eyes narrowed at Rei’s reaction.

“Listen, Ryuugazaki, if you want me to leave you in, I’ll happily leave you in.”

Realizing he wasn’t exactly at liberty to bargain with his saviours, Rei promptly jumped back into business. “Well, no, the door’s not lined with anything, it’s––“

“Then stand back, you dolt,” Rin called out, and with a quick twist of his body, whirled around to kick backwards right beneath the lock. There was a loud _crack_ on the surface, and with a second attempt the lock finally gave away.

It was Haruka who pushed the door in, finding a slightly disheveled yet definitely alive-and-breathing Ryuugazaki Rei inside. The frame of his glasses was patched up with insulation tape and a makeshift armsling hung across Rei’s chest, but other than that he seemed in high spirits for someone who had been a prisoner for almost two days.

Noticing Haruka’s gaze flick down to his broken arm, Rei quickly went on to explain. “This–– the wave threw me against a boulder before I woke up here. No-one’s harmed me. The Akiba members, they’ve–– well, everyone’s been quite nice to me, actually.”

“Then why did they capture you?” Haruka asked, genuinely puzzled; to his further bewilderment, Rei only shook his head.

“Honestly? I don’t know. I don’t think the people looking after me really knew either. Every once in a while there’d be this person –I think they called him Tatsu– who said not to let anyone in, and then we’d all just wait and play word games to pass the time.”

Rin snorted. “And the signal? Why did it cut off?”

At the sound of this, something feverish came alive in Rei’s eyes. In an instant he crossed the distance and used his one good hand to grab Rin’s shoulder like suddenly Rin had become his best friend.

“You noticed that too?!” Rei spoke so high it almost came out in a wheeze, “I thought it might have just been my Revice, but if they both were affected by the change, then–– Oh, no, oh, yes, my estimates were right and _don’t you realize what this_ _means_?!”

A perplexed, if not mildly frightened look made Rin instinctively switch glances with Haruka. “Uh… no?”

A look of disapproval scrunched up the side of Rei’s mouth before he pulled out the device from his pocket. Held it out in all its dead glory, his expression filled with excitement and wonder.

“The signal didn’t die. It just lost its route, because the satellite, I–– I thought it was abandoned, but someone must have reconfigured it. Which means that somewhere on the other side of that ocean, someone has given us a navigation point.”

He took a deep breath, and the joy that stretched his smile was like a sun dawning after a long, endless night.

“It means we’re not stuck in a sunken Tokyo anymore.”

 

 

 

In an ideal world, Haruka would have had the chance to process all this information, to do as he always did and swim until his head cleared. But it wasn’t a utopia he’d woken up in fifteen years ago, and so all he could do was let the reality of Rei’s statement wash over while a myriad of emotions passed on Rin’s face.

“That’s…” Rin began, then quickly shook his head to snap out of his trance. “No, we don’t have time for this now. We have to get you out of here before someone finds out we took down your guards. There’s still a chance they recognized me, but I can’t risk the entire team thinking this was some kind of deliberate Samezuka attack.”

Mildly disgruntled at being brushed off so lightly, Rei gestured towards his arm. “And what do you suppose I do with this? I’m not sure I can even stay afloat.”

Haruka reached into his own thigh-pocket and pulled out his ventilator. “Take this. It’ll allow you to breathe underwater, and Rin and I can help you swim the rest of the way.”

“We can use the stairs to reach the rooftop without running into anyone,” Rin agreed. “The altitude will give us a head-start, and heading in the opposite direction hopefully puts anyone off our trail. It’s a bit of a dive, but the impact shouldn’t be strong enough to damage Ryuugazaki’s arm.”

With this, the three of them headed back towards the entrance. Haruka noticed Rei’s brow twitch in concern at the unconscious boys resting against the lockers, confirming what Rei had said about his time in captivity. Rin must have been thinking about the same thing, because he moved with caution even after they deemed the staircase clear.

However, the rooftop was clear too. A funny kind of silence hung in the air while Rin helped Rei with the ventilator, then showed him how to protect his arm going down. Once in the water, Rei was to head for the closest building and wait for Rin and Haruka to follow; all of this was supposed to take but a precious few minutes, but the moment Rei’s feet leaped off the side of the building, an unexpected voice cut the air.

“Rin-senpai!”

Beside him, Haruka felt Rin’s entire body grow alarmed. The man who emerged from the staircase looked familiar in a way Haruka hadn’t quite bothered to memorize, but it was obvious Rin recognized him at once.

“Takuya?” Rin breathed out, and the memory in Haruka’s head finally clicked; still at a distance, the Samezuka member whose watch he had stolen now gestured wildly like he was at complete loss for words.

“Rin-senpai, the base––“

He paused to draw in his breath, water dripping down his shoulders. “We’ve been ambushed.”

Only the slightest hint of disbelief furrowed Rin’s brow. “…What?”

“Someone faked an anonymous attack,” Takuya went on, still resting his hands on his knees, “But we found out it was organized by an Akiba spy. We have to hurry–– Sousuke-senpai gave me the navigator to find you, so we could strike back before they realize we know it’s them.”

“…A direct counter-attack?” Rin repeated, but his expression remained unreadable. “Without the Captain’s approval?”

Takuya shook his head, as though lost in exasperation.

“No, Rin-senpai, you don’t get it–– _they killed your sister_!”

The crack of Rin’s bones when he pulled back his shoulders made Haruka draw in a sharp breath.

He never saw if that expression changed in the time it took Rin to meet Takuya halfway across the roof. In the last three steps Haruka could sense something change, though, because as soon as Takuya held out his arm in a relieved greeting, Rin’s fingers snaked around his wrist.

Looking back, it was almost astounding to think this was the same Rin who had shown reluctance at using violence before. In the flash it took for Rin’s elbow to catch Takuya by the jaw, any attempt to block the following hammer fist became futile. The crunch that left Takuya’s bone where Rin’s foot connected with his shin made the man cry out, but even after he dropped to one knee, the grip Rin had around Takuya’s neck did not budge.

“One,” Rin hissed in Takuya’s ear, “If you’d followed us here from Samezuka instead of actually _being_ the spy, you’d know there was no signal. And two…”

He yanked Takuya’s head back with even more vigor, “If someone took Gou down, Sousuke _never_ would have sent you. My sister wouldn’t be dead _unless he was, too_.”

“Pretty bad… lie, huh,” Takuya choked out, sounding awfully unfazed at having just broken a bone or two. “Well, it won’t… be a lie for long. Even if you won’t avenge her in a fit of blind rage, the rest of Samezuka will.”

Even at a distance, there was nothing unreadable about the fire in Rin’s eyes. “What’s your fucking angle? What team would launch an ambush while their boss is signing a peace treaty?!”

“My angle… is for all of you to destroy each other,” Takuya groaned, and spat out a trickle of blood. “The only team I’m with is my family. Thanks to Tatsu and the others, Samezuka will think the attack was unprovoked, while their retaliation makes Akiba think the same.”

A mirthless smile tugged at his smile. “Both teams will retaliate until not a single gang remains. That’s… the only real peace treaty.”

“So Akiba has nothing to do with this?” Rin choked out, clearly fighting back the urge to grind Takuya’s face into the concrete floor. “What makes you think they won’t find out it’s all a hoax?!”

“…With all due respect, Rin-senpai,” Takuya muttered, “If we ever intended that to be an option, what kind of a lousy trap would this be?”

The sudden explosion that made the rooftop sway almost knocked Haruka off the edge. It was enough to loosen Rin’s hold on Takuya, but instead of directly escaping, Takuya lazily scampered back to his feet.

“Feel free to waltz back in and explain your case,” he said, cocking his head towards the exit. “And maybe while you’re at it, you could also explain why Samezuka’s first in command just _happened_ to be in Akihabara right after an explosion took out three of its youngest members.”

The lurch in Haruka’s stomach was almost as violent as the tremors beneath his feet. When Takuya casually started limping back towards the stairs, Rin made no move to stop him; at first Haruka mistook it for stunned silence, but when Rin turned his expression was unusually calm.

“You need to go with Ryuugazaki, Haru.”

Dumbfounded, Haruka crossed over to him. “…Rin?”

“This place is about to get swamped by the enemy,” Rin said, and the softness of his voice was a grotesque contrast to his words. “You have to go and get Ryuugazaki back to Samezuka–– or whatever still remains of it, anyway.”

“Rin.” Haruka felt his throat growing dry with a sudden, uneasy thought. “You’re––“

“I have to stay here.”

When Rin glanced back at Haruka, his composure finally cracked. “You know as well as I do that if I run away now, it’ll only make every person in Akiba think I killed those kids.”

_No_.

This time, the thought didn’t materialize in words, but flowed through the grip Haruka seized on Rin’s hand. With the sheer element of surprise, he managed as far as the edge before Rin’s heels dug on the ground and stopped Haruka from blindly dragging him off the side of the building.

“What the hell, Haru?! Didn’t you listen to a goddamn word I just said?!”

A strange momentum kept building up in Haruka’s lungs, and it was the irritation in Rin’s voice that finally made Haruka lash out in response.

“And what if they don’t believe you didn’t do it?! What if they never let you talk at all?!”

Rin’s jaw tensed with similar annoyance, but when his hands shot out to hold down Haruka’s arms, they were trembling with something other than anger.

“Don’t you get it?!” he hissed, “Takuya’s _right_. Both of these teams–– if either one of them is tricked into thinking they were wronged, they’re just going to keep attacking each other until there’s literally no-one left to avenge. _And that includes Sousuke and Gou_.”

Rin paused to draw in a breath. “Even if no-one in Akiba believes me–– I’d rather they take my life in exchange for those kids’ than ever do that to my family.”

Haruka felt a sharp jab somewhere in his chest, and tried to swallow it down.

“Then I’m staying too.”

He knew to expect the shake of Rin’s head, but it didn’t make it any less frustrating. “No, you’re not. I told you, you have to get Ryuugazaki out of here – he can’t float all the way to freaking Samezuka. You need to make sure he gets to reconfigure his signal, so you can use it and finally leave Tokyo.”

“What if I don’t want to leave Tokyo?!”

The scream came to Haruka on instinct, yet it still caused something in Rin’s eyes to spark aflame. When his hands moved up on Haruka’s forearms, Rin leaned in so close Haruka could feel his’s breath on his skin.

“Haru,” Rin practically spat through his teeth, “Back in Harajuku–– don’t you dare pretend you didn’t say it. Don’t you _lie in my fucking face and pretend you didn’t mean it_.”

Haruka’s eyes widened.

_I want to see everything._

_I want to go everywhere, so one day I'll have nowhere left to go but home._

Of course he still remembered the sight Rin had shown him, and the words it had made Haruka admit aloud for the first time in his life; and it was precisely because Rin was right that the burning in Haruka's throat stole his ability to respond.

“I’m not letting you waste your dream, Haru,” Rin said, but his resolve almost sounded strangely pained. “I’m not letting you go back to a life only filled with regret.”

Something in Haruka’s mind was screaming.

“And what about your dreams, Rin?!” he managed to choke out, a desperation now seizing the same bones that had felt so alive at dawn. “Won’t _you_ have any regrets?!”

A quick, surprised realization made Rin pause.

It was only for a heartbeat though, swift as the gesture that pulled out a familiar, small device; in that one, fluid movement Haruka felt Rin’s hand grab the side of his neck, and the jolt of the ventilator rendered him mute at the very same moment that Rin’s lips crashed against his.

Through the haste and sea salt, the terror and the thrill, Rin yanked back his head and gasped, “Not anymore.”

As his hand slid down to Haruka's shoulder, not a single stunned word left Haruka’s mouth when Rin pushed Haruka him off the edge, and into the water.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Tapioca POV. Wait, I mean Makoto POV.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping to finish this story by the end of March, but because of work or travelling I might not be able to. Still, hopefully I'll finish it soon. Two more chapters after this, hoorah!

 

 

 

By evening, the light rain had turned into a pour.

Heavy clouds concealed Shinjuku in a grey veil while they spent the afternoon anchoring the ship near the most suitable uninhabited building. Although Gou expressed desire to go back and look for any returning members, Sousuke insisted they couldn't afford to for as long as the number of spies remained unclear. Her safety was of the highest priority until the Captain returned, he'd said, although Makoto couldn't imagine him acting any differently even if Mikoshiba was there.

As soon as they finished settling down in the desolate office block, Nagisa volunteered keep watch on the outskirts of Samezuka. No-one really knew how long it might take for Rin and Haruka to return, but even staying up all night again didn't seem to deter Nagisa from the prospect of being reunited with Rei.

Mikoshiba, Haruka, Rin, Rei. So many people who seemed to hold answers to what happened next, while the rest of them could but sit here and wait. It was strange, really; waiting had always come so naturally to Makoto, yet hours after Nagisa's outline had disappeared beneath the surface, for the first time the thought also made him feel frustrated.

It had always been Haruka who had the courage to follow his instincts, but during the ambush Makoto hadn't listened to his fears either – hadn't thought of anything at all besides what his heart had told him to do, and that... well, to be completely honest, it left him wanting to do _more_.

A low quack at his feet startled Makoto out of his thoughts.

"Oh," he said on instinct, turning to greet the duck that had followed him to the side of the building. "Hello, Tapioca."

The duck quacked again and waddled to stick its head through the broken window frame. Tucking its feet beneath its stomach, it finally settled down with a calmness that made Makoto also squat by its side.

"Are you worried about Nagisa?" he asked with a small, amused smile, "...I guess that means you're waiting for someone, too."

"Don't tell me your hidden skills include talking to animals. I'm starting to think you're some kind of fictional magical girl."

Twenty-four hours ago that remark might have contained snide intent, but when Makoto glanced over his shoulder he knew Sousuke's comment was in humor. By the time Sousuke reached the window, though, there was more pensiveness than mirth on his face.

"It's getting dark awfully quick. If there's a storm, it will take even longer to hear back from Momo and the Captain."

He sighed, eyeing at Tapioca. "If only you were the spy. Then we'd be having dinner instead of second guessing our next move."

The duck let out a loud quack, flapping its wings furiously until Makoto heard Nitori call out Tapioca's name. Perching up, Tapioca managed to waddle a few feet before Nitori rushed in to scoop the duck in his arms.

"There you are!" Nitori said in relief, then panicked almost as quickly. "Oh, sorry–– I hope he wasn't a bother to you."

"Besides saying some choice vulgarities about my mother, nah, we're good," Sousuke shrugged, only taking his eyes off the horizon to glance sideways at Nitori. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something. Why did you come to Tokyo, Nitori?"

Makoto could have sworn Nitori flinched at the directness of the question. "Uh... what do you mean, Yamazaki-san?"

The side of Sousuke's mouth scrunched up, but by now Makoto had learnt to tell this expression meant no threat. Instead, Sousuke was merely lost in thought, trying to connect the events of the past few days in his head.

"I mean, it's obvious you're not from around here. Even if your navigator broke, you probably could have found a hundred more peaceful places to settle in with Tapioca. So why Tokyo?"

"I..." Nitori's voice came out hesitant, but there was nothing insincere in his words when he finally spoke. "I heard there was someone in Tokyo, who... who took in people who had nowhere else to go."

At this, both Sousuke and Makoto exchanged confused glances. _Ever heard of anyone like that?_ Sousuke's look seemed to be saying, and it wasn't until Makoto shook his head to answer _No, I haven't_ that it struck him how peculiar it was that he could tell.

"They said it didn't matter if you were young or old," Nitori went on, smoothing over Tapioca's feathers, "So because I had no-one left, I thought I'd try and find her."

"Her?" Makoto spoke out before he could help himself, but it was also at that moment that the water carried a cry even the growing wind couldn't stifle.

"Mako-chan!! Sou-chan!! It's Rei-chan _–– they're here_!!"

 

 

 

He knew something was wrong the second he laid his eyes on Haruka.

Somehow, Makoto could feel it long before they helped fish a shivering Rei out of the ocean, before his hand shot out towards Haruka and only rolling waves took the place of the person who should have followed.

"...Haru?" Makoto breathed out, but the hand that grasped his was cold. When Haruka's feet hit the ground, he didn't breathe a word; all he did was stand motionlessly while the water ran down his arms, as though he, too, was waiting for something.

The only difference was that Haruka didn't have to wait for long.

"What the _fuck did you_ _DO?!_ "

As much as Makoto had found most of Sousuke's scare tactics trivial, there was nothing neglible about the venom in his voice. It should have alerted Makoto at once, yet he barely had time to react at all before that venom made Sousuke cross over in three swift strides and connect his fist with the side of Haruka's face.

It was hard to say what exactly happened after that. The flash of a shadow, a flicker of red, and Gou's voice ringing out a second before a spinning back kick sent Sousuke crashing flat on his back.

"That's _enough!!_ "

Pinning him to the ground, Gou's hands gripped Sousuke's collar as harshly as she spoke. "Don't you _ever_ lay a hand on a civilian on my watch again, understood?!"

Her tone sobered Sousuke up long enough to glance at Makoto with something akin to regret, but one glance at Haruka made his painful grimace turn into frustration again.

"I _told_ you it was a trap," Sousuke coughed out, "It _was_ Akiba after all. We sent Rin right in there with that dead weight and now he's––"

" _He knew what he was doing_!!" Gou raised her voice higher than Makoto had ever heard her yell before. "Oniichan would have never left in the first place if he wasn't prepared to take the risk. Don't you _dare_ take this out on anyone, especially Nanase-san."

Makoto touched Haruka's forearm as though on reflex. The entire exchange had left Makoto as stunned as it made him angry, but even with the lip Sousuke had split open, Haruka's expression remained cold as stone. With sudden clarity, Makoto understood that Haruka hadn't dodged Sousuke's blow on purpose.

"Are you done," Haruka simply said, and his flatness made Sousuke narrow his eyes.

 _We're not_ _done_ , that glare seemed to be screaming, even if it wasn't a physical threat anymore. Gou looked as exasperated as Makoto felt, because between Sousuke's naked vitriol and Haruka's shut-down mode, the courage he had cultivated now seemed as unreachable as the moon. The urge to shrink back from confrontation battled his protective nerve, until at last Makoto realized he couldn't afford either selfish desire.

"...We need to get Rei somewhere warmer," he said instead, nodding at Gou to let her deal with Sousuke. He'd express his disappointment later, but right now there were more important things to worry about. "Haru, I know you're tired, but I need to look at your wounds too."

No agreement nor refusal came in response. Still, when Nagisa let out a tentative "Haru-chan?" it spurred Haruka's feet into motion. Makoto could sense Rei was dying to talk about something, but Haruka's silence rendered all of them quiet until they reached Nitori's ship. Until they could salvage a generator, the cabin was now the most comfortable shelter, and the twins were already fast asleep inside.

Unsurprisingly, Nagisa fell asleep within the first ten minutes of reclining his head. Rei fared slightly better, if only until Makoto could take a closer look at his arm. None of them had had a full night's sleep in days, perhaps for fear of compromising their safety; as Makoto watched Nagisa's one hand curled around Nitori's wrist while the other firmly held onto Rei, he really would have liked to blame the circumstances for all of this – yet the harsh truth was that even without gangs and kidnappings, their everyday lives didn't really fare much better.

Trying not to let the thought depress him, Makoto shifted back to Haruka and gestured at his face.

"Did you hurt yourself anywhere other than your lip?"

It made Haruka lift an intuitive finger on his lips, then quickly avert his eyes.

"...No," he muttered, and the gesture in itself was subtle enough to reveal everything Makoto hadn't asked outright.

Deep down, he had always known that on the day Matsuoka Rin showed up at their tower in Shibuya, everything had changed. In the wet footsteps and setting sun, even Haruka's aloofness hadn't been able to conceal how his apathy was overtaken by a strange, unusual intrigue. Rin probably couldn't tell; maybe Haruka didn't realize it for himself either. But one thing Makoto knew for certain: you couldn't spend close to twenty years living with someone and not notice the moment their world began to expand.

Taking in a long, reassuring breath, Makoto covered Haruka's hands with his own.

"...Whatever happened back there," he began, cautiously treading around whatever had left Haruka so shaken up, "If he has even fraction of the same spirit as Gou and Sousuke, he'll find a way to come back, Haru. Even if he has to swim across the ocean for it."

Haruka's jaw tensed. Pulling up his knees, he buried his head like he had often done when they were children; but just like back then, even after helplessly concealing his vulnerability, Haruka never let go of Makoto's hand.

"It wasn't worth it," was all Haruka said, but the muffled sound came out broken; and maybe it was the stress of the past twenty-four hours, or the life they had helplessly led for over fifteen years, but Makoto could feel something inside him breaking just the same.

_Enough._

In that one word, what trailed out from beneath the part that had broken was something tired, frustrated, but above all determined – to find a way to finally _do something_ , to stop this ridiculous world from taking away the things they cared about the most.

 _There has to be a way_ , he thought, reaching out to brush at Haruka's hair while his shoulders lightly trembled. _A way to find him. A way for you to be happy. A way to make sure none of us lose what we love again._

 

 

 

He must have eventually dozed off, because sometime during the early morning hours Makoto woke up to a light voice.

"Psst! Wake up, wake up Makoto! I need you to come with me!"

He opened his eyes to find Gou's red hair swaying lightly in the darkness, like a memento of a time not so long ago.

"Mhuh?" was all he could respond with, but a reflex kicked in long enough to make him shift out from underneath Haruka's shoulder. From the corner of his eye he could have sworn Haruka stirred awake too, but Gou pulled him along before Makoto could make sure.

"The Captain came back!" Gou spoke in a whisper barely containing her excitement, raising her voice only after they had safely made it back to the building. "He's currently in the middle of a negotiation, but I couldn't sleep 'till I heard what's going on."

"And Sousuke?" Makoto asked like a knee-jerk reaction, and she scrunched up her nose.

"Until he apologizes to Nanase-san, I'm not talking to that big bonehead." In that moment, she sounded a lot less like Sousuke's superior, and more like his stubborn friend. "I know he's upset over oniichan, but oniichan can't be _dead_. If he was, Captain wouldn't be talking to the boss of Akiba right now."

Makoto's eyes widened. Trying to keep up with Gou as she darted through the maze-like halls and towards the negotiation room upstairs, any traces of drowsiness drained along with her words. "Their boss is _here_?"

Slowing down, Gou glanced over her shoulder. "Turns out the Captain took so long to return because Momo's intel made him head to Akiba first. It seems both teams are a mess... but thanks to his quick diplomacy, we avoided an all-out war. So the good news is that my brother wasn't killed or taken hostage in Akiba."

"...And the bad news?" Makoto gestured lightly, anticipating Gou's next line even before her expression turned from hopeful to restless.

"The bad news is nobody knows where he is right now," she sighed, "Which means someone could have gone rogue. Whoever ambushed us also killed three kids in Akiba, and tried to frame oniichan for it. We don't know if someone got to him before their boss outlawed any retaliation on Samezuka."

As if to brush off the likelihood of that thought, Gou shook her head. "But Momo's tracking him right now – if anyone can find him, Momo will. Until then we need to make sure these spies don't cause any more trouble."

"So what's the negotiation about?" Makoto asked, noticing Gou had finally come to a halt by the entrance of what must have been the negotiation room. "Are they still working on a peace treaty between the teams?"

Gou frowned and leaned on the wall near the door. "See, that's why I woke you up. I needed someone who isn't a gang member, to maybe offer their insight. Because apparently Akiba was never meant to be a team at all."

"...Haven't you guys been fighting with them for years?"

"Only because they're the biggest other team in Tokyo. I don't really know more than what I managed to piece together so far, but–– well, it appears they started out as a kind of refuge. Then smaller teams started picking fights with them, and to protect their people they took residence in Akihabara. To be perfectly honest, I don't even know if all the squabbles we've been in over the years were legitimately instigated by them at all."

"Well, all of that is the primary reason why we always kept clear of trouble," Makoto sighed, but smiled mirthlessly when Gou raised a brow. "Though I don't suppose avoiding getting involved really made a difference in the end. One way or another, we're all affected by what happens in this city."

"Captain said they suspect that's why we got ambushed," Gou nodded, evidently relieved Makoto hadn't been passing judgment. "That people from Samezuka and Akiba were working together to destroy the two biggest teams. I guess since Akiba's original plan of pacifism didn't work out, they thought the only way to end the fighting was to get rid of everything."

"Why didn't it work out, though?" Makoto asked, something equally curious and hesitant bubbling up in the wake of Gou's news. Something about all of this sounded very familiar, like the puzzle was three pieces away from forming a full picture.

Gou opened her mouth to respond, but there was a sound at the door before it pulled open.

Makoto half expected to see Mikoshiba's familiar, vibrant hair pass the doorway, but the person who walked through was much shorter. Moreover, it wasn't a _he_ to begin with – the woman who paused in the doorway must not have been older than he was, with long, dark hair and the air of someone who neither apologized nor made a statement of her presence.

In his surprise at discovering she was the boss in question, Makoto didn't even notice her staring back with equally perplexed intensity in her eyes.

"...Makoto?"

He blinked. No, he hadn't mistaken it; the woman had clearly spoken out his name. The confused look on her face reminded him of someone, but it had been so many years it was hard to put a name to that memory. Before the Submerge? No, after it, before Kisumi drowned––

But he didn't need to remember alone.

When Haruka's calm voice bounced down the hallway, it came out as crisp as all the memories his words made flood right back into Makoto's mind.

"...It's been a while, Aki."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Say, I wonder?


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Wait, what, where does the time go?! Somehow, a month passed between work and travelling, but the end is near. Worry not. I have had this ending in my head since I started this story, and I will make sure it sees the light of day soon.

 

 

 

Twelve steps, sharp right turn, a diagonal leap.

_Thud._

Six yards up, a ledge–– _grab, hold, no, don't let go_ –– and a slide past a mountain of rubble and the hull of a rusted car.

_Splash._

Twenty yards, a dive beneath the debris, a sharp grab onto a steel pipe up ahead––

_Slam._

...A wince and a head rub later, a nimble climb up three sets of stairs, and there––

_Found you._

From atop the fire escape, he could see all three of them now, pulled up by the entrance of an old restaurant front. The sun cast a harsh gleam on the water, highlighting each still-fresh contusion like freckles down their shoulders and arms.

One was staring absent-mindedly into the distance, while the other two were engaged in a morose conversation:

"Hey, leave my elbow alone!"

"Look, I have to try and reposition it. If you try to swim like that, it'll take us at least a month to get back."

"You could have tried being half as thoughtful before you, you know, _busted_ it."

"Because you left me fifteen and a half other choices, huh? Now cut the attitude. It's only thanks to me you're still alive."

"...Is that meant to be comforting? We both know the second we get back, I'm as good as dead anyway."

"Hey. I told you, alright? No more killing on impulse. If I wanted to give your best friend an excuse to continue with this bullshit, I could just as well drown you now."

"Too bad the rest of them aren't as idealistic as you."

"Maybe. But if there's anyone I'd trust to make the right call in a situation like this, it's our Captain."

At the sound of this, he couldn't help a sudden burst of thrill, even if it risked giving him away too early:

"Yeah!! You tell 'em!! Niichan is awesome!!"

The voice cut in on the discussion like a slam, startling enough to send one of the men tripping into the water. With an awkward splash, he quickly pulled himself back on the marquee and tried to find the source. A flash of sunlight must have blinded him for a second, but the joy that ultimately softened in those red eyes was unlike anything Momo had expected.

"Rin-senpaaaaai!" he called out at the three of them again, waving enthusiastically. "You're too fast! Did you know it took me three whole days to find you?!"

Next to Rin, Takuya's groan was a lot less welcoming. That groan soon turned into a wince. though; both his elbow _and_ leg seemed fractured, which explained why Momo had finally caught up. It didn't seem like the third guy –whom Momo didn't recognize, but could play a pretty swift game of Cluedo to identify as the accomplice from Akiba– posed any more of a threat, yet Momo beckoned at Rin's company.

"So, need any help with that?"

"Nah," Rin quipped back, clearly trying to sound more aloof to hide the exhaustion on his face. "They're pretty compliant, these two."

He ignored Takuya's glare like Momo ignored his refusal, while the sun still gleamed on the bruise curving all the way down to his split lip.

 

 

 

Progress with Momo turned out something of an oxymoron, since he also seemed incapable of shutting up: about Samezuka, about Shinagawa, and more than anything, about how _amazing Gou-chan was you should have seen her she got down to business so fast I thought she'd squash Pyunsuke if I made even one joke!_

The news of his family's safety were certainly a relief to Rin, yet the sharper the outline of Shinjuku became, the more it also brought him unease. For three days, he had willfully ignored all the liberties he had taken, hoping the end would justify the means. Still, that didn't mean Sousuke wasn't bound to kick up an argument the second Rin set his foot back in Samezuka.

Apprehending the original spies alone hadn't been Rin's original plan. Rather, he hadn't _had_ a plan to begin with, when Akiba had begun to melt around him in a cacophony of noise. But once the reality of his situation finally kicked in, it had done so with a sobering persistence – did _anyone_ have to die for others to live, if you could suck out the poison before it could spread?

All of it relied on trusting his Captain's judgment, but Rin had never been wrong about it before. The rest of it was out of his hands, just like his captives were once Momo dragged them over to what vaguely resembled Nitori's marooned ship.

Rin was wrong about one thing, though. In the end, Sousuke didn’t kick up a fight.

At first he thought it was because of Gou, and the scream before her arms clung around Rin’s neck. But even after she came down to her tiptoes, pushing his jaw around like a medical examiner, there was no outburst from Sousuke. Instead, he only muttered “You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?” before yanking both Rin and Gou into a tight embrace.

Maybe, just a week ago this would have been all Sousuke said. But after Gou reluctantly left to help Momo with their captives, Rin felt a tug on his wrist, and could tell something in his absence had definitely changed.

 _Can we talk_? was what that gesture meant, leading Rin to the solitude of Samezuka's rooftop. The headquarter was but a temporary one, Gou had explained, but slowly beginning to crowd with people; the leader of Akiba had chosen to stay for as long as it took to resolve the matter, resulting in a strange gathering of the two teams.

After filling Rin in on everything that had happened since Akihabara, Sousuke leaned back on his elbows and shot Rin a sharp, sideway glance.

“…Come on. The more you pretend like you’re not dying to ask about him, the more embarrassing you get.”

Normally, Rin would have argued Sousuke’s logic on principle, but it was a resolve also weakened by three days of second guessing. What good would it do him to catch Takuya, if staying behind in Akiba nonetheless turned out to be a mistake? After all, it wasn't just him who was still stuck in enemy territory, with a storm that had set in hours later, and he...

“Both of them made it back safe, Rin. Nanase’s fine.”

Rin flinched at his words, making Sousuke lift a brow before adding, “…Well, 99 percent fine, anyway. I may or may not have punched him in the face.”

The second flinch never made it past surprise, as Sousuke’s hand shot out to hold down Rin's shoulder. “Calm down–– your sister already kicked the shit out of me for it, okay? I know it was impulsive and wrong, and I shouldn’t have done that.”

It took a while for the instinctive tension in Rin's muscles to relax, but once it did, Sousuke's grip softened. It was obvious he was choosing his words with caution, to explain something he had spent days trying to work through his system.

“...Look, I guess it was just easier to blame him for everything, you know?"

As he spoke, Sousuke's eyes scaled the towers in the distance, their reflection a distorted image on the water. "That because of Nanase, everything was suddenly changing… But with or without him, it was always going to change. I know that now.”

He paused. “I heard about the satellite, Rin. That means you’re leaving, right?”

The frankness of Sousuke’s question made Rin hesitate. He might have been forced to squash those thoughts while tracking Takuya, but deep down he hadn’t forgotten Rei’s news either. For Sousuke to state it so plainly, though... in a sense, it only made Rin realize how ridiculously selfish it sounded.

And yet, wasn’t Sousuke only asking him what Rin had demanded of Haruka back in Akihabara? To be honest about everything he’d always wanted?

“…Yeah,” Rin heard himself speak out, because there had only ever been one answer; but it didn’t trigger in Sousuke the kind of disappointment Rin had feared.

“Good,” Sousuke said instead, letting out a small laugh, “Because if you’d lied and said no, I’d have punched you in the face too.”

With a more serious note, he then shook his head. “Listen, Rin… I know we always thought it would be me. Or the three of us–– you know, leaving this place together, going out and seeing the world together. But after everything that's happened lately... the last thing I want is for you to hold back on that dream, just because I can’t follow it through.”

It was a confession that initially left Rin at loss for words; whatever Sousuke had experienced since they last saw each other, it now allowed him to acknowledge this reality without regret. It wasn't feigned courage that made Sousuke admit to this, though, but the spirit of the boy Rin had grown up with, long before the Submerge had turned it sour.

“Besides,” Sousuke went on, finally letting go of Rin’s shoulder with a shove, “You’re not the only one whose life is changing. I might be stuck in Tokyo for a little while longer, but the Captain’s going to make an announcement about the future of Samezuka tomorrow. And I know it’s got to do with me and Gou. And possibly Makoto.”

“ _Makoto_?” Rin blurted out in an echo, but Sousuke merely pinched the bridge of his nose, waving the other hand like brushing the topic away.

“Long story,” he muttered in mock exasperation, “And far longer than you have time to waste on right now, unless you want all that sulking to turn Nanase into a sea urchin.”

While Rin would have loved nothing more than to give Sousuke hell for clearly losing against Makoto’s friendliness tactics, a combination of dread and excitement shot through him at the sound of Haruka’s name. Rin had put off this moment long enough, but Sousuke was right: any more stalling would just make it harder to own up to everything that had happened.

His throat felt dry. “…Where is he?”

Sousuke pushed back to his feet and pulled Rin up. “Oh, Nanase’s not here. He only comes back once a day to eat because Makoto makes that ridiculous face if he doesn't. So I can’t help you there.”

“…Then how do I know where to find him?” Rin asked, mildly perplexed, yet Sousuke countered his confusion with a wry smile.

“Trust me, I think you already know.”

 

 

 

Maybe, deep down he had always known.

Such conviction is often doomed for disappointment, but somehow Rin just did. Hell, maybe _Wait for me at Udagawachou_ simply sounded like a phrase someone had written, to underline how inevitable it was to return to Shibuya – the place where everything had started, what now felt like years ago.

The tidal wave had certainly left most of the ward looking older by decades, yet barely a week had passed since the last time Rin stood on a sun-soaked billboard with metal scorching the soles of his feet. To his surprise, he didn't have to wait for long before a familiar sound made his heart skip a beat: a ripple in the water, before the surface broke with a gasp.

A strange frenzy preceded the motion, like something had sent Haruka to the surface with haste. A hand shot up to remove the ventilator, but the gesture came to a halt as soon as Haruka turned his head.

 _Indifference, annoyance, grief_. These were all emotions Rin was mentally prepared to catch in that gaze; but the instant Haruka's eyes fixed on him, any ice in them melted like a spark of red fury, and Haruka’s head plunged right back into the water.

“H, hey?!” Rin cried out as soon as he discovered his voice. Frustration soon replaced surprise as the knee-jerk reaction that sent him diving after Haruka, realizing he had never banked on Haruka's emotion to be _anger_.

Not that there was much trouble chasing Haruka, with or without a head-start. The whole effort seemed half-assed to begin with, once Haruka chose to go up rather than around the nearest building, like a bizarre parallel to their race down the Chuo line.

“Will you stop?!” Rin couldn’t help screaming anyway, once hoisting himself out of the water and onto the roof. “I’m still faster than you, you know!!”

To Haruka’s credit, he almost made it to the other side of the roof before Rin cut the distance to grab his arm. The gesture was harsh enough to yank Haruka’s entire body around, and for a second Rin thought Haruka was going to hit him. However, as he stumbled forward, Haruka’s hand unclenched to land on the left side of Rin’s chest.

“H, hey,” Rin choked out again, this time in bewilderment. His arm instinctively closed around Haruka’s shoulders, and within seconds he realized Haruka was trembling.

“…You had no _right_ ,” came the muffled sound, defiant as it was honest; it sparked a strange kind of déjà vu in Rin's memory, like the two of them had had this exact argument at another time, yet vanished once Rin realized what Haruka’s words actually implied.

Rin opened his mouth, but the apology got stuck in his throat along with his courage. Somehow, _I’m sorry I kissed you_ only seemed like further admission that it _had_ made Haruka angry. And if Haruka was angry, then it meant Haruka hadn’t wanted it, and if Haruka hadn’t wanted it, then the only one with these confusing, troublesome feelings was––

“…You told me you weren’t going anywhere. And then you did.”

Rin blinked.

“Wait,“ he finally managed, pulling back lightly to find Haruka unable to hold his eye, “ _That’s_ what you––“

The confusion in his voice must have sounded belittling, because the glare returned  just as quickly. To stop Haruka from taking a defiant step back, Rin grabbed him by the wrist.

“…I’m–– I know you’re mad at me, okay?” Rin breathed out, hoping not to dig himself to an even deeper hole. “And you’ve got every right to be. I’m sorry, Haru. I shouldn’t have left you the way I did.”

Yanking his head away, Haruka said nothing, but at least he no longer squirmed. It reassured Rin enough to finally reveal the one card he was secretly betting all of Haruka’s forgiveness on; after all, even if nothing about the two of them ever seemed to go according to plan, by now Rin was a master at cultivating plans B, C, and D.

“I’ll make it up to you, alright? Or–– at least try, anyway. Because there’s someplace I think you might–– no, someplace I _want_ you to see.”

“Hnh,” was all Haruka muttered. A moment passed in silence, until he finally glanced back at Rin.

Subtle as it was, Rin failed to stifle his relief.

 

 

 

“…Where are we?”

Frowning, Haruka craned his head around to make sense of the crumpled signs at the entrance. Water had long since washed them out, with small flora now growing around the edges beneath a worn-out _S_ carved in stone.

“An old cinema,” Rin said, climbing up the steel bars attached to the side of the building. “I found it on accident while looking for Takuya. I figured he was stupid enough to go back to Ikebukuro eventually but I didn’t have time to tread much further in.”

He came to a halt at the top, where the roof had caved in all around to reveal several different-sized entrances.

“It’s pretty easy to get in from this one, but you have to watch your step. I’ll go first so I can help you get down.”

Having nearly twisted his ankle the first time, Rin was now prepared for the thud of the old seat when he leaped down the side of a construction beam. Reaching around, he held his arms out for Haruka to follow; sure enough, Haruka would have likewise tripped over the unreliable folding seats, had Rin not caught him by the waist.

Disoriented by the tumble, it took Haruka a moment to gain his balance. A funny kind of pause followed once Rin forgot he was supposed to let go, and the haste of his gesture made something unreadable pass Haruka's face. Whether disappointment or not, it washed out once Haruka grew alert at the sound trickling from somewhere below.

“…Is that…?”

From hesitant to hopeful, the speed at which Haruka's expression shifted came second only to dashing past the broken seats. The edge of the balcony had partially come down like the roof had, granting him an even clearer view of the circle. And there, in an airlock surrounded by a crumpled screen and what must have once been a lively theatre, he saw what Rin had found: a school of dolphins, chattering excitedly as they jetted back and forth in the shallow water.

“…It’s something like a cove, I think. I guess this is their home.”

Rin kept his voice low as he caught up, but Haruka wasted no thought on subtlety. The dolphins stirred only briefly when Haruka climbed down the balcony and his feet hit the stage. Almost right above the circle a large hole in the ceiling allowed in swathes of early evening light; treading his toes into the sparkling water, Haruka looked lost in a world of his own.

But when Haruka looked up again, there was softness in his smile that nearly made something spasm right out of Rin's chest. Because it wasn't a world that excluded Rin anymore, like the glow worms in Harajuku – not a sight that reminded Haruka of a painful memory, but one they had created together, and from here on would always share.

_Thank you, Rin._

It was what Haruka spoke aloud again, when the dolphins grew bored of the day growing old, and the tangerine water took on a turquoise hue. The sky that spread across the ceiling felt like nature's silver screen, as the two of them sat leaning into the soft upholstery of worn-down seats.

“…Well, it’s the least I could do,” Rin replied, knowing any attempt to sound casual was doomed with Haruka's arm resting barely an inch away from his own. When Haruka tilted his head, it came to rest on the side of Rin's shoulder, and never pulled away.

“Sousuke told me you and Makoto were ultimately the reason the Akiba lady called off her team," Rin went on, trying not to over-think the gesture. "...I heard you guys go way back together, so it meant a lot that you'd vouch for our innocence. And mine."

Haruka remained silent, until his voice came out calm. “All I did was speak the truth. I told Aki you hadn’t hurt anyone.”

As Rin glanced down, he noticed a light furrow on Haruka's brow. “…Rin, you really hate hurting people, don’t you?”

The timing of Haruka's question may have been strange, but the topic was always bound to come up eventually. Taking a deep breath, Rin leaned his elbows against his knees, letting his shoulders slouch.

“...It didn't always use to be that way,” he muttered with a trace of sheepishness, “It used to just be self-defense, or to protect Sousuke and Gou. I guess sooner or later we all got so used to it because of the Submerge, but ever since Samezuka…”

He trailed off, hesitant what it was that he really wanted to say. Just as Sousuke had asked for his honesty today, these were the words he had long since been dying to admit.

“...Turf wars, opposing teams, all of this shit…" he shook his head. "None of it makes sense anymore. How come the only way to live your dream is to destroy everything around you? How am I supposed to be anyone’s first in command when I don’t believe in anything we do?”

He leaned his head back, staring at the sky that had begun to cloud over. Something soft grazed his forearm, and he realized Haruka had furtively nuzzled closer to him like a cat.

Rin closed his eyes.

“That's why I can't stay here anymore. Not just because I want to see the world like my dad–– but because I’ll go crazy if I don’t.”

There was a rustle where Haruka's head had rested on his shoulder. Eyes flicking right back open, he found the most perplexing look on Haruka's face: something hopeful yet also pained, like the touch he placed on Rin's cheek. It felt like the exact same spark Rin had felt in the water on the day they had met; as if this was Haruka's way of admitting that the two of them had crash-coursed down the same path ever since.

No, it was more than a path – a spirit, one that the two of them always seemed to share, regardless of whether they wanted it or not.

“…You could come with me, Haru.”

At the sound of Rin's voice, Haruka came to a halt.

There was no follow-up any more than there was a response, as all Rin sensed was the sharp shift of air before Haruka’s fingers laced through his hair.

Even in the half-light of the rundown theatre, the warmth of Haruka's lips felt like the afternoon sun. It wasn't a frenzied, hasty kiss like their first one had been; instead, it lingered like the bruises on Rin's skin, aching where Haruka's fingertips trailed down his arms.

But the softness of those seconds could not disguise the peculiar urgency in Haruka's touch, any more than Rin could pretend not to see it when he finally pulled back. And just like that, Rin understood what it must have felt like to sink into the cold waters of Akihabara, when Haruka leaned in and whispered,

“Rin, I… I can’t.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All happy endings must be deserved.
> 
> (But this ain't no Wind Waves.)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then we reach the end!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who stuck around for the finale; I hope in some way, this rollercoaster was worth the ride.

 

 

_I can’t._

How many times had he heard those words, spoken to him over the years?

A soft, saddened whisper into his hair when he’d gripped the arm of his mother, screaming _You have to come with us, they have to take you too, you have to_.

A terrified whimper that barely left Makoto’s mouth, deaf at the hysterical _We have to get out of here, the shelter will collapse, you need to come with me_ once the waves washed his friend at their feet.

All the countless rejections Haruka had weathered in his life, until the names and faces blurred together in one, meaningless stream; yet on that night at the abandoned movie theatre, he could suddenly remember each and every one of them, through a voice telling him the exact opposite: _You could come with me._

But fifteen years later, it was Haruka's turn to repeat the words.

_I can't._

The honest confusion on Rin's face hurt only half as much as watching it struggle into a smile. A poorly-disguised laughter preceded a quick shake of his head, as Rin leaned back and choked out,

"...Y, yeah, that was... Sorry, of course you can't, there's–– Makoto, and the twins, and we don't–– Shit, we don't even really know each other, huh...? It was stupid of me to ask."

It wasn't stupid, though.

Because what Rin didn't understand that it wasn't _him_ ; it was Haruka, and everything the past three days had made him realize. It had been easy enough to forget everything in the thrill of today, yet there was no denying the damage Rin's disappearance had done – no denying the power Rin already had over him, in a world where there wasn't supposed to be anything left to break.

It wasn't a risk Haruka could afford to take again.

 _I can't afford to trust you with so much of me_ , was what Haruka had really wanted to say, but it wasn't something he could explain in words. Everything about this mess they'd created together was the biggest paradox of his life, after all: something he couldn't stop clinging onto, while hopelessly pushing it away.

But Rin never asked him to explain. Nor did he reject Haruka, for that one last cling on his shoulder when Haruka nestled up by his side. It couldn't help but twist Haruka's stomach into knots, at how willing Rin was to still grant him that comfort; even after everything, Rin didn't hesitate in _his_ trust.

No, all of this–– it had to end, Haruka knew. But it had to be _him_ who made that choice, so it wouldn't hurt as much when it inevitably did, like everything else in this world.

Rin would leave, he would stay, and both of them would return to their real lives. And yet, something small and persistent in Haruka couldn't help but lean into Rin's heartbeat that night, and fall asleep thinking,

_...But what is my life?_

 

 

 

They left Ikebukuro late the next morning, amidst silence and an overcast sky.

Rin had yet to report properly back to Mikoshiba, disappearing past the crowd of people already gathered for the announcement. Ideally, Haruka would have skipped it altogether; there was nothing that interested him in the affairs of these people anymore, but he had also promised Makoto to stay until it was over.

With no time to swim off his restlessness, he found himself trailing along the tall windows. In the most peaceful of all corners, though, he came across Aki. They hadn't spoken much since the night he had returned, which was why the bright look that lit on her face made Haruka remember something peculiar.

“…Aki. Can I ask you something?”

She looked simultaneously pleased and surprised at his request. "Oh, of course, Haru."

“Back when I told you what happened in Akiba," he started, then paused for the right words. "...Why did you believe me?”

Aki tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“…I mean, it’s been… years since we saw each other," Haruka explained, "And a lot can change. But you still never doubted my word for a second.”

A small smile lit on Aki's lips, and when she spoke, a certain fondness entered her voice.

“Sometimes, you–– you might meet people, that you just _know_ were meant to be part of your life. They’re the kind of people you could trust anywhere, no matter the time and distance.”

Her smile grew deeper as she went on. “You should know though, Haru. You have people like that, too.”

Haruka let his eyes fall.

“…That’s impossible," he muttered, "How could I trust him? ...I don’t even know him.”

His response made Aki frown in confusion, though. “…Haru, I… You know I was talking about Makoto, right?"

“That's––” Haruka choked out, like part of him had stumbled into a trap Aki hadn’t meant to place; she cast him a curious look, but before Haruka could finish backpedaling, they were interrupted by the murmur of a passing group.

“Oh, it looks like the announcement is up,” Aki said, and gently pulled Haruka along by the arm, “Come on. This is something all of us should hear.”

Mikoshiba had chosen the roof as his stage, being the most spacious gathering point for both teams. As he and Aki easily located Makoto, it felt weird to see everyone in one place: when the members weren’t scattered around, there really weren't a whole lot of them left.

The sound of the audience grew louder than their ranks once the two captives were brought out, though. It said a lot about Mikoshiba’s presence that three determined handclaps were enough to break up the noise, before he leaned in to address his former teammate.

“Let's make one thing clear," he calmly began with a sigh, "The reason I’ve brought you here is not to waste your time on mindless revenge. One way or the other, most of the people here have blood on their hands; most of them are no more fit to cast judgment than I am, knowing all any of us ever wanted was peace.”

Mikoshiba looked pensive as he went on. “If I turned you into martyrs, it would only prove you were right. That it really is impossible to have peace, unless this whole, already struggling community eats itself inside out. And I have no desire to let that happen.”

“What does that even mean?” Takuya finally hazarded, a lot less confident than the last time Haruka had seen him give attitude.

Mikoshiba folded his arms, but the look in his eyes was not pity.

“It means I’m letting you go,” he said, ignoring the dissent it sparked. “But not out of the goodness of my heart. In this case, I simply feel it’s a more fitting punishment to have you live with the consequences of your own actions, never knowing the day when they might finally catch up with you and _your_ family.”

The dissent turned into whispers, but Takuya remained very dubious for someone who had narrowly escaped with his life.

“And how will that change anything?" he asked, pointing out a worthwhile hole in Mikoshiba's logic. "If a member of Samezuka or Akiba attacks us later, won’t that still be your responsibility?”

“No, because they’re not my members to lead,” Mikoshiba cheerfully replied, and at long last he failed to stifle his grin. “Which brings me to the second reason we called all of you out here. You see, as of today, there is no more Samezuka.”

A collective _what?!_ shot through the people around Haruka, but by his side, Aki remained calm. Taking the chance to step in, she beckoned at her team.

“I never meant for Akiba to become what it turned into,” she said, ten times softer yet every ounce as determined as Mikoshiba. “Which is why I’m renouncing it, too. Both of us have decided to pursue other ways to help the community, in hopes that we can once more make it thrive.”

“Don’t worry, your precious Aki-sama isn’t going anywhere,” Mikoshiba added when a look of panic struck some of the younger members of Akiba, “Her talent and insight will be much needed to shape up these districts into more than a warzone. The plan is to make her original dream a reality: to build a place for everyone with nowhere left to go. Only difference is, this time she won't be alone.”

The moment he finished, a flurry of red somersaulted into the empty space before Mikoshiba.

“Hello!! My name is Matsuoka Gou, and my charm point is morale boost, organization, and breaking people’s kneecaps.”

“We’re _not doing this_ ,” came a desperate groan before Gou’s hand shot out and yanked Yamazaki out to join her. Planting a hand on his face, he took a deep breath as though asking for gods to give him strength.

“Fine. I’m Yamazaki Sousuke and my…” he paused, but the sharp look Gou gave him made him carry on. “Mycharmpointiskeepingidiotsincheckandapparentlyalsomybackmuscles.”

The crowd’s amused laughter was a welcome breather from all the confusion so far. In spite of himself, even Haruka couldn’t help a tug on the side of his mouth. Aki would fit well with Gou and Yamazaki; after all, they were born for a life like this, they––

“Come on, even Sousuke-kun said it! You promised to do it too!”

The tentative smile died on Haruka’s lips as soon as he realized Gou was yelling in their direction, but she wasn’t looking at him.

“Ah, I–– well, it’s––“ Makoto let out a flustered laugh next to Haruka, but had the sense to step forward before Gou dragged him out in a headlock.

It was hard to say how much of what happened after that felt like a stunned trance.

“My… My name is Tachibana Makoto, and I’m… Well, I don’t necessarily know what I’m doing all the time, but maybe that’s my charm point? So if anyone’s feeling lost and doesn’t know what they’re doing either, they can come and talk to me.”

None of it made any sense. Not the casual shove Yamazaki gave Makoto's shoulder, not the joy that bled out of Gou's voice when she complained, _hey, you left out the best part!_. None of this was happening, it _couldn't_ be happening, and all at once Haruka's head felt light.

"What about you, Captain?" someone called out from the crowd, or at least Haruka thought someone did, until Mikoshiba's response confirmed he wasn't dreaming.

“Me? I have bigger fish to fry," Mikoshiba's grin stretched wider, "As some of you might know, our resident team of _mad scientist and his two engineers_ discovered a way to navigate the ocean. So I'm going to lead that expedition."

Puzzled murmurs, and a _hrmph_ of disapproval as Mikoshiba shot them an insulted look. "What? Why the hell did you think they call me _Captain_?”

More laughter, enthusiastic nods, a freeze frame that still did not feel real.

“Who’s going with you, then?” someone else shouted, and it was then that something tangible pushed through the blur of Haruka's mind: until now, Rin had stood silently right behind Mikoshiba, but the question made him speak up.

“…Just me,” he said, and the flatness of his energy made Yamazaki's head snap around. When that gaze landed on Haruka, it instantly clouded with anger.

That spark was all it took, to finally light the the betrayed kindling inside Haruka's chest.

"Haru?" he heard Makoto speak out, the second he turned on his heels. But it sounded wrong, sounded–– too far away, as if everything here kept slipping further and further from Haruka's reach, until all of it was gone.

And then he was gone.

 

 

 

"Nanase!"

Of course the first person to catch up _had_ to be Yamazaki.

Whirling around, Haruka knew he had roughly two minutes to get rid of him before Makoto finished apologizing his way out of the crowd.

"I have nothing to say to you," he cut in sharply, the corridor draining his words off any life they might have had left.

Yamazaki, however, looked unfazed.

"Great, because I want _you_ to listen to _me_ ," he snapped, closing the distance between them in a few strides. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? You're not leaving Tokyo with Rin?!"

Haruka's eyes narrowed.

"And what if I'm not?" he spoke, unable to help the frustrated venom. "Are you going to tell me if I don't go, then Rin might not either?"

Yamazaki halted, a mixture of bewilderment and disdain crossing his face. "What the hell? Why would I ever say something as stupid as that?"

He hastily shook his head. "Shit, Rin has _nothing_ to do with this. What I'm asking is why you're so insistent on throwing the biggest opportunity of your life away."

"You don't––" Haruka practically hissed, then pulled back his shoulder to return the ice into his glare. "You know nothing about me. Don't pretend like you do."

One minute, thirty seconds. He could have recognized Makoto's footsteps anywhere, which only meant one thing: the need to cut this conversation short, because he didn't want Makoto to hear the argument any more than Haruka wanted to explain it.

"Nanase!" Yamazaki called out after him one last time, but it made no difference. The only thing that did was the water, blocking out all sound once it pulled him in. Always had, always would; what point was there to reach out for anything more than that, when in the end all it ever came down to was that silence?

But somewhere without him realizing it, the water had changed, too.

It must have done, because three hours after he had pulled up the ledge of a tower on the outskirts of Shinjuku, Haruka heard those footsteps again. Makoto's footsteps – which made no sense, because Makoto _never_ swam that kind of distance, unless he absolutely had to risk the forces of nature.

"...I was starting to think I'd never find you."

Pulling his knees up to his chest, Haruka willed himself calm. It had always made him feel so helpless, trying to stifle all this anger before it could lash out. But Makoto had also never been this persistent before, which was why Haruka caught himself a second too late.

"...I don't want to talk to you right now."

To his surprise, though, Makoto's expression didn't flinch any more than Yamazaki's had.

"I know," Makoto calmly replied, taking a seat next to him. "But I can tell you're upset. So I'm not leaving."

Haruka averted his eyes. Somewhere in the distance a couple of seagulls were fighting for scraps of fish over a floating traffic sign, and the sound of the screeching felt a lot like the inside of Haruka's head.

"I'm fine," he still muttered. "...I just wanted everything to go back to the way it was. Why is that so hard to understand?"

The sound of seagulls was pierced by an unusually determined voice. "...But it won't, Haru."

Taken aback, Haruka finally turned to face Makoto head on. The expression that greeted him was apologetic, but also full of resolve; as if there were thousands of words Makoto, too, had stifled over the years, until he'd finally found the courage to voice them aloud.

"...I'm staying here, Haru. The twins want to, as well. You heard what they said back there – we're going to try and build a different kind of future, not go back to the life we had before."

Haruka swallowed, feeling his defensiveness dissolve into spite. For fifteen years he and Makoto had protected one another, but clearly, the only one Haruka could rely on was himself.

"So you do whatever you want to," he grit through his teeth, "I don't care."

It wasn't the first time Haruka had been openly rude, but it had never roused such naked exasperation on Makoto's face. It left Haruka completely unprepared for the shock when Makoto did something else he had never done before: pushed up to his feet and roughly yanked Haruka along by the arm.

"Then what _do_ you care about? What _do_ you want? This?!"

Pushing Haruka around, both of them came face to face with the desolate view before them. There was nothing out of ordinary about the sight, yet Makoto had never acted so aggressive before, nor sounded as if something inside him had finally stretched thin enough to snap.

"I want you to tell me this is really what you want, Haru," he said, shaking his head. "Not leaving Tokyo, but _this_."

"It is," Haruka managed to blurt in response, but his voice came out forced and thin. Makoto must have noticed, because his grip on Haruka's arm grew tighter

"You have to mean it. I won't believe you unless you mean it."

"This is what I want, alright?!" Haruka didn't bother biting back his bark anymore; the two of them had never argued like this, but Makoto's insistence resembled Rin and Sousuke's so much that it made the remnants of his patience boil over.

"I want this," he repeated in anger, "I––"

And then he saw it.

Because it wasn't only their first proper fight together, it was a momentum that suddenly made Haruka understand what Makoto had beckoned at: acres upon acres of algae-ridden water, run-down buildings and scraps of rusted metal. The cries of seagulls, the odd sound of fish dipping to the surface, and the deathly echo of a life that only ever went around in circles.

A life with no beginning, no ending, no _future_.

"...hate this," his voice finished in a whisper, before it picked up in volume anew, "...I hate this, Makoto. I _hate this_."

Before he knew it, the words came out like a hysterical scream across the pale blue water.

"I HATE THIS I HATE THIS  I  H A T E   _I  H A T E  I T_ !!"

When the strength finally left his lungs, Haruka felt his entire body begin to falter. Still, Makoto's grip never loosened, and instead braced him before he fell.

"...I hate it," Haruka repeated one more time, but it was like an apology and a barely-contained whimper in one. "...I love you and the twins, but I _hate everything else about my life_."

Something beneath his weight began to tremble. Before Haruka knew it, Makoto was laughing, like that same overwhelmed emotion left his body in one big relief.

"I know," Makoto murmured, slowly reaching up to settle Haruka back on his feet. Taking a deep breath, he placed both hands on Haruka's shoulder, all desperation having drained off his face.

"...You know you'll always have a home here, with me," he said, "A family you can return to, for as long as you need. But I won't let you use me or anyone else as an excuse to run from your dreams anymore, okay...? Because if there's nothing else we can give each other in this world, it's the freedom to reach out for what makes us happy."

He finished with an encouraging nod. "...Both of us have found things we want to fight for. I've never seen you as–– spirited, as you are with him. But if you stay here, that person will be gone."

"But what if I only lose him anyway?" Haruka tried in one last desperate plea at indecision, but Makoto gently tilted his head.

"I meant you, Haru," he breathed out, "The person you'll lose is _you_."

 

 

 

The muffled shriek of a seagull pierced through the surface a moment before his fingers did, and the sound caught his ear like a shattering cry. Grasping onto the ledge, he allowed the rough surface of the concrete help pull him upwards, water splaying on the pavement where his bare feet touched the ground. 

Somewhere to his left, afternoon sun trickled across the corridor, bouncing off empty frames and pillars of chrome. The pavement beneath his feet still felt warm against his skin, allowing him to savor the remnants of warmth for as long as he could.

But the Nanase Haruka that had reached out from the water in Shibuya was not the one that stumbled out in Shinjuku, almost a week later.

"Haru-chan!"

Amidst a mountain of metal scrap, he could barely see Nagisa's waving arm. Once he got closer, he discovered both him and Nitori working on something that looked like a... robotic duck.

"Oh, it's just a side project," Nagisa quickly explained at the befuddled look on Haruka's face. "Since we finished fixing the ship, we needed something to do before Rei-chan comes up with new ideas... I call it, T2000. Tapioca 2000! Wait 'till Sou-chan sees it!"

"Have you seen Rin?" Haruka cut through the conversation before it got any weirder. However, next to the other two, Rei frowned.

"You didn't know?" he said, placing down some kind of electronic tablet he must have salvaged from one of the Akiba members, "...The signal became unstable. Mikoshiba-san decided it wasn't worth it to risk waiting, so he and Rin-san went to load Nitori-kun's ship an hour ago. They might have already left."

The non-robotic duck at his feet gave a startled quack as Haruka sprinted into a run. Every inch of him kept screaming _he wouldn't he wouldn't he wouldn't leave without saying a word_ , but if Rin really believed this was what he wanted, then–– there really wasn't a minute to waste.

His heart skipped a beat once the familiar ship came in sight, still anchored and undulating on the West side. It didn't look occupied at all at first, until he treaded closer and heard a bewildered voice coming from the prow.

"...Look, you guys can't come with me, okay? Your home is in Ikebukuro. What are you gonna do? Follow me out to the ocean?"

The small school of dolphins only responded in a giggle at Rin's attempts to ward them away. The sound of their chatter failed to mask the thud of Haruka landing on the deck, though; alarmed by intuition, Rin immediately turned around.

A mixture of surprise and last night's disbelief washed over his face when he did. "What the––"

It was all Rin managed before a tidal wave of relief slammed right into Haruka, like he slammed Rin right overboard.

This time, there was no silence. The water that engulfed them both came alive with something he could recall from before, like an energy that ran down his arms and into Rin's skin; it merged with a cacophony of foam and salt, and a hundred bubbles breaking the shrieks of dolphins as he clung to Rin underwater.

When they resurfaced, Rin's words came out in a cough.

"Wh, what the hell, Haru?! There are easier ways to drown a man, you know!!"

Hearing the familiar spark returning to Rin's voice, Haruka's arms hastened around Rin's shoulders. With a heavy, reckless kiss he pushed both of them back beneath the surface, but this time Rin grabbed his waist before inhaling a gallon of water.

"Okay, I–– I stand corrected," he still wheezed once Haruka saw fit to disentangle from him. " _That's_ by far the weirdest way to drown."

As much as that sass helped both of them unwind, in the next moment Rin grew more serious. His eyes fell on Haruka in a cautious glance, with a reluctant hand that pushed Haruka back.

"...What did you really come here for, Haru?" he asked, like it was something he _had_ to. Once upon a time that hesitation could have stung, surely, but it was a fear of rejection Haruka no longer felt when he replied:

"My future, Rin."

The relief that spread on Rin's face never actually materialized in words, because someone else confirmed this in his stead:

"Good answer, Nanase. I'm happy to announce you've passed the first challenge with flying colours."

Both of their heads shot up to find Mikoshiba craned in their direction, reaching out a hand from the deck. "Come on, I still need to know if you're willing to commit to the rest of the list."

"The rest of what?" Rin choked out when they climbed back up, but Mikoshiba ignored him. Instead, he handed Haruka a piece of paper.

"I had a feeling you'd show up, in spite of what Matsuoka told me," Mikoshiba explained, a hint of amusement in his tone, "But I wasn't going to let you come aboard if the only reason you did was because of this idiot here."

He proceeded to ignore Rin's _hey!_ as well, before his smile ultimately softened.

"This might be a one-way trip we're embarking on. Not everyone has what it takes to leave everything behind and step into the unknown. But I heard about everything you did back in Akihabara, so I'm willing to take that chance."

He tapped on the list in Haruka's hands. "...But first you have to check all the items on this list, just so we're on the same page. I'd recommend you pay specific attention to items #12 and #45: _No turning this ship into a hormone zone if we're all about to get eaten by sea krakens_ , as well as _For the love of god, at least give me my sleep once every two weeks._ "

While Rin looked ready to dive off board and personally drown himself, something weirdly reminiscent bubbled up in Haruka's stomach.

And then he started laughing.

Rin looked almost startled at this, but relaxed just as quickly. The arm that had pushed Haruka back now yanked around his shoulder, and the expression on his face was nothing short of the smug, self-assured dork Haruka had met back in Shibuya.

"O, oi, Rin," Haruka blurted out in surprise, but Rin only gave him a wry smile.

"You should probably see everyone before we leave," Rin said, his renewed confidence like a radiant aura. "The twins are gonna hate me for stealing you away from home."

"Not really," Haruka muttered, but his defiance was little more than fluster; in truth, there was something in Rin's words that made Haruka lift his head, encouraged by the boldness of Rin's spirit.

"There's a place on the coast, on our way out of Japan," he said. "I want to stop there first."

At Rin's puzzled face, Haruka let his gaze trail off where the sun was setting on a sunken Tokyo. He had always thought that the moment would either fill him with excitement or dread, but when he spoke again, the strange feeling that welled up inside Haruka was _hope._

"If the Submerge ever ends–– that's where I want to return to. With Makoto, and the twins."

 _And you_ , is what danced on his tongue, but it was too early to say it to Rin; and yet, it didn't seem to really matter either way, because one way or another Rin always seemed to find his way back to him.

When Rin nudged at his shoulder, the warmth of his touch felt as though he knew this too.

"Alright," Rin turned his head until their foreheads touched. "So what's this place of yours?"

Haruka closed his eyes.

"It's called Iwatobi," he said;

but as the name passed his lips, it felt like a beginning instead of an end.

 

 

 

\- fin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so, so much fun writing Makoto (and Sousuke! And Gou!) for this story. The heavy focus on family may not have been my original plan, but I am very happy I had the chance to write it anyway. I love all of these kids, and their relationships with one another, and in a way I am kind of sad to see this silly little side story come to an end.
> 
> Nonetheless, thank you to everyone who read it.
> 
> And because I am the cheesiest ever and have zero shame: while writing this, the single one song I must have listened to the most (in terms of getting the energy and pace right) must be _I Want You To Know_ by Zedd. Incidentally, I want to leave you with the part that I feel captures everything I probably wanted to say to begin with:
> 
> I want you to know that it’s our time  
> You and me bleed the same light  
> I want you to know that I’m all yours  
> You and me run the same course


End file.
